What if We Could
by TheSoggyBug
Summary: It was the last week of camp when Percy's Mom sneaks a call to Percy. The week after camp gets out they're going to the seaside cabin in Montauk, but the best news was that Annabeth was allowed to tag along! Super fluffy, kind of meaningless, but so much fun! Please read and review if you LOVE Percabeth.
1. Chapter 1

_Okay, so this was one of my much older fanfictions I found a few days ago written in an ancient moldy notebook packed away in storage. So I know it's probably going to be weird, but that's okay. We like weird._

_Oh, and you may think: "Any second now a monster is going to show up and eat them!" because that's just what the PJO books are about, buuutt… That's why I wrote this. To get away from the stress and just spend time with one of our FAAAAAVORITE couples!_

_**Disclaimer**__: I do not own the Percy Jackson books or the characters or settings or—Do we really have to go through this? Just read already._

**oOo**

It was the last day of camp for us half-bloods. I was busy picking up my belongings when a sharp buzzing filled my back pocket. Though phones were obviously not the smartest idea for demigods, my mom made sure I brought mine just in case. Despite reminding her several times that I would be safe, she still insisted, if only for emergencies.

That was why I was so curious when my cell rang. Inside camp borders I was safe, so I decided to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Percy!" It was my mom, of course, sounding breathless and rushed. "Is it too late? Have you left camp yet?"

My stepdad, Paul Blofis, was picking me up, so I guessed my mom didn't know if he had arrived yet.

"No, I'm still packing."

She sighed in relief. "That's good. I wanted to ask you something."

Considering Mom, it was probably something slightly irrelevant, but no matter. "Okay," I said, and waited.

"I have arranged a small vacation for us after you get back." She gushed the news. "The people who own the cabin in Montauk recently redid it, and apparently it looks really nice, so I decided—why not?"

I processed this.

"Next week," she continued, still bursting with excitement. "The price went up a bit, but since it's a special occasion of you completing your fifth year at camp, we're going to spend an entire week there."

My mom sounded so excited, but I didn't see why she couldn't wait until I got home to tell me.

When she didn't elaborate immediately, I toyed with the zipper of my backpack and cleared my throat. "Okay…?"

Mo took a deep breath. "And I was wondering if you'd like to invite Annabeth to come with us."

My eyebrows raised with surprised, and all I said was, "Oh."

My mom really liked Annabeth, but this was not at all what I expected. Normally the cabin was just mine and Mom's getaway place. Not ever Paul went with us that often. Her proposition seemed so crazy, I had a feeling it would never be offered again.

I'd began packing faster before she even finished her sentence, though. "That…would be _awesome_. I'm going to have to find her and ask, though." I snuck a quick glance at the time. "Paul isn't going to be here for another half-hour, though, so there isn't much of a rush."

Mom laughed. "Sorry, sweetie. You don't have to call back if you don't want. Just find out from Annabeth and we'll discuss things when you get home."

"Okay. Thank you, Mom."

"Love you, Percy!"

I closed my phone and shoved it into my pocket, resisting the urge to dance around the (still) empty Poseidon cabin with joy. A week by the sea with Annabeth? No quests to worry about? Approved by my _mom_? It was better than I could ever hope for.

I tossed the rest of my things haphazardly into my pack, not caring about what going where. Leaving camp seemed considerably more exciting. Sure, it was the end of summer and the water would probably be too cold to swim in—not to mention yet another school for me to join began in three weeks—but _man_.

I looked one more time at my unnaturally tidy mini-manor before heading out. Most people were gone by the, but a few of the old-timers who weren't staying the year liked to hang back until everyone else left. I thanked the gods that Annabeth was one of them.

It wasn't too hard finding her, to be honest. She was laying on the hill just outside the border surrounding Camp Half-Blood, staring intently at the laptop that was open on the grass in front of her. Without hesitation, I plopped down next to her.

She glanced up for a minute. "Hey, Seaweed Brain."

"Hey."

I watched as she snapped her computer shut, stuffed it into the back next to her, and rolled onto her stomach. Ringlets of bright blond hair were tied back behind her head, seeming to flaunt the scar of grey streaking into the band. Her eyes seemed brighter, less worried as they did so often our past years. If you counted the beads on her necklace, you'd find ten lined neatly in a row.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at me and shook a stray strand of hair from her face. "What's up?"

I had a difficult time not staring at her. "Nothing, really. Just waiting for Paul."

A pause.

"Listen, Annabeth, my mom just called and…"I fumbled getting the words out, knowing my face was turning pink. "See, every summer we go to this seaside cottage for a few days, and uh… Mom called to see if-if you'd like to come along."

Thankfully, she just grinned, relieving some pressure. "That sounds like fun. I'd have to ask my dad, though. You know how parents are." Annabeth dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Luckily, he knows you. If it had been any other boy he wouldn't think twice before refusing."

She was good at that, being so casual and offhand, flipping onto her back and looking up at the ski as though nothing was odd or shying about the situation. I knew my face was bright red—as it turned every time I was around her—but I'd given up on trying to act sane around her. We both know it was never going to happen.

I stretched onto my back next to her, our arms almost touching.

Everything was so quiet, so peaceful, with the sun shining hot and the sounds of satyrs playing music in the camp below and the faint lapping of waves on the shore and the scent of strawberries…

A few minutes—or seconds, maybe—passed before Annabeth turned to rest her head on my shoulder. My lungs kind of froze and I was about to glance around to see who was watching before I realized there honestly was no reason I should care.

I closed my eyes, too.

I really could have stayed there that way forever, but someone above us cleared his throat.

"Percy?"

That someone was my stepdad.

I shot upright and felt the blood rush to my cheeks _yet again_. "Paul!" Gods, that was awkward. "I, uh, have my things packed and…uh… We should probably…go."

Annabeth gave a hesitant wave to my stepdad. "Hi, Mr. Blofis."

"Annabeth." Paul nodded his head to her politely.

Though there had never once been any animosity or dislike, Paul observed her from a sort of distance. Maybe it was his weird way of trying not to humiliate me in front of my friends, but it made things less comfortable.

I avoided looking anyone in the eyes as I stood up, backpack slung over my shoulder.

"Bye, Percy." Annabeth got up with me and grinned. "Call me tonight, okay? If I don't call you first." She shook hands with Paul and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I was rewarded with my face turning beet red. Again.

In Paul's Prius, everything was quiet and uncomfortable for the first thirty minutes of the ride. Then he cleared his throat and said, "Sorry I embarrassed you, Percy."

"It's no problem. Really." I showed how unaffected I was by rolling down my window and turning the radio up.

We got to our apartment a little after 2:00. Of course, as soon as I walked in the door, my mom caught me in a hug that nearly made my eyes pop out of their sockets. Less violent than my brother Tyson's hugs, but somehow still a near-death experience.

"Percy!" she said, finally letting me go. "It's great to have you back home, baby. Did you have a good time?"

I accepted her offer or a blue sugar cookie she must have made just for this celebration. "Yeah. It was great!"

Considering how I didn't blow anything (major) up or have any close calls with death, I'd say it was a fairly decent summer.

"So what did Annabeth say?" she asked after collecting herself a little, using a less "deranged mom" voice.

"She has to ask her dad. She's calling again tonight, but she seemed really excited and eager."

Mom smiled and straightened the bead necklace around my neck. "Of course. Now, Percy, there's something I want to talk to you about before next week."

"Oh, no," I groaned.

She stared me in the eyes with her important maternal look that all mothers give when they're about to say something mortifying. "Now, you are a very handsome, very adolescent young man—"

"Mom—"

"—And Annabeth is a very pretty young lady—"

"Mom, please—"

"—And I know how much you like her—"

"Seriously, M—"

"—And I just want to tell you that ev—"

"MOM. Honestly." I put my hands on her shoulders reassuringly. "You gave me this lecture when I was ten. I won't do anything stupid."

"Oh, honey, I know what it's like to be in love." My mom sighed, taking one of my hands in her slightly worn ones. "One second you think you've got everything in control and the next…" She sighed again, and then gave me a look. What she was going to say was: _…you're pregnant with the sea god's child._

I long pause followed.

Paul and I shuffled on our feet awkwardly.

"I'm going to go unpack now," I said finally, making a mad dash to avoid more talk.

It was a few hours later. I was sprawled out on my bed, whittling absentmindedly at a stick with one of my pocketknives. The smell of cooking lasagna wafted in from the kitchen, and I heard muted sounds of the TV in the background from the living room. Somewhere in our apartment the phone rang.

Ten seconds later there was a knock on my door.

"Come in."

My mom entered, holding the phone out to me.

I took it, propping my feet up on the wooden headboard of my bed. "Hello?"

"Hi, Percy!"

It was Annabeth, of course.

Through the crack in the door she was peeking in from, I saw my mom smile widely and give me an encouraging thumbs-up.

I couldn't help but feel that little skip of happiness that I oh-so-unwillingly admitted ever existed. "Hey, Annabeth! What did your dad say?"

"He said yes!" She seemed so thrilled, her voice grew so high I had to hold the phone away from my ear. "As long as I promise to behave and call and be safe and not get pregnant and blahblahblah. You know dads."

Not entirely. I didn't have a dad for a major portion of my laugh, and when I did, he most certainly didn't tell me not to get pregnant. Thank the gods for that.

Deciding to ignore the twitch in my eye her last comment brought on, I laughed. "My mom basically said the exact same thing. You should have heard her earlier."

"I have a feeling I wouldn't have wanted to." Annabeth sniggered, and in the background I heard something shatter. "Oops," she muttered. "Listen, I have to go, but I'll call again tomorrow."

"Okay, Annabeth." I paused for a second, letting my gaze wander over for a second to a picture I have of me and her taped up on my wall. "…Sleep well."

"You too, Percy."

She was the first to hang up. I kept the phone held to my ear stupidly, listening to her voice repeat in my ear until Mom came into my room and took it from me.

"Well?" she asked.

As if she hadn't heard, eavesdropping like that.

Despite my slight annoyance at my mother, a grin quickly and unexpectedly stretched across my face. "Her dad's letting her."

Mom smiled knowingly, as if this brought her more pleasure than it did to me. "Oh, good! Sweet girl…" She walked out of my room, looking like she was going to burst again. She was acting odd, but good. I didn't mind that side of my mom.

It was surprising how slow time went by as I waited. On August fifth—two days after leaving camp, my birthday—Annabeth sent me an Iris-Message and we spent about fifteen drachmas talking and laughing late into the night until my mom came in to stop it. I'd fallen asleep with the picture of her in her crazy purple pajamas in my head.

Time seemed to go past like the blink of an eye on the Thursday before we left. I was practically tapping my foot, waiting, going to bed early and repacking my backpack a dozen times, making sure my teeth were brushed twice a day so I didn't develop dragon breath by Friday—and trust me when I say, you do _not_ want that coming at you.

"Hey, Percy," my mom called from across the apartment Thursday afternoon. "I'm renting a few movies for the trip. Any requests?"

I turned off the TV and sighed. Letting my mom rent movies that I'll be watching with someone other than family was bad. She always chooses the movie that would apply the maximum dose of awkward to the situation. The last time Grover was over… I shuddered at the memory.

"I don't know. Anything, I guess," I told her. "No chick flicks or movies with dogs in them. I'm sick of dogs."

I heard my mother laugh. "Okay. I'll be back in a little bit!"

After Mom came back and made dinner, I wolfed it down and went straight to bed. Sleep didn't find me immediately, though. My mind was too full of…thoughts.

It was so weird for my mom to let me spend more than a day with a girl, let alone a _week_. I prayed to the gods that she wouldn't do anything horribly mortifying, but I doubted even the gods could do anything to stop her.

With terribly funny and horrifying images related to that thought floating around in my head, I fell into an eager, light sleep.

Frantic beeping filled my brain with such a surprise I unwillingly pulled myself out of a sleep. With a groan, I slammed my fist into the alarm clock.

Then I remembered what that day was and apologized to my poor clock.

With speed rivaling a centaurs', I dressed and grabbed my backpack before dashing out of the room. I had my bag packed (okay, it was packed the day after leaving camp) and all I had to do was to not forget it.

In the kitchen, my mom was fixing a giant batch of (yes, blue) waffles. The smell of bitter, black coffee wafted in front the mug in Paul's hand as he read the newspaper at the table.

I sat down on the chair closest to the stove where Mom was working. "Hey, when are we—"

"I know what you're going to ask, Percy," she said with a light laugh, putting a plate of breakfast in front of me. "Just be patient. We're leaving right after lunchtime."

Paul looked up from his paper, one brow raised in an amused, curious look. "Been talking non-stop about her. You know, when I picked you up, you two seemed pretty ser—"

"Do _not_ say 'serious,' Paul."

My stepdad raised his hands in defense. "Okay, okay."

So what if I liked Annabeth? You'd like someone a lot, too, if you had nearly died together several times. And okay, I admit, she _is_ beautiful (—gorgeous—), and she _is_ smart (—mastermind) and—

"Who's her mother again?" Paul interrupted my thoughts, peering under his glasses at the paper. "Aphrodite?"

"Athena," I corrected, taking a bite of syrup-soggy waffle.

He chuckled, thanking my mom briefly for the breakfast she set in front of him as well, before looking up and giving me a sly smile only he could give. "Could have fooled me. The way you look at her."

I was about to argue, heat rushing to my face, but Mom cut me off.

"No less than a goddess." She laughed, taking a seat between us.

"Gods, you two…" I grumbled, feeling humiliated and uncomfortable. "She's…really smart. And we've saved each other's life a lot."

"Are you sure those are the only reasons?" Mom laughed again, but stopped when I scowled at her. "Sorry, baby. We're just teasing. I'm sure things will go just fine."

It was a very long drive from our apartment to Annabeth's house. On the way, Mom put in one of her old people CD's and started singing along, brown hair streaming lose behind her back in the wind. She seemed happier than I'd ever seen her, and I was so glad, I didn't even complain about the music for the first part of the ride.

By the twelfth song I was about ready to jump out of the moving vehicle, but the gods were merciful and we turned into the drive to Annabeth's house as the suicidal thoughts kicked in.

Both my mom and I walked up to the door, and after knocking, Annabeth's dad answered. "Percy! Sally!" he greeted us graciously. "Please come in."

The house was a lot tidier than it was the last time I saw it. It looked like the perfect example of a normal persons' house; pictures hanging the walls and potted plants thriving on tables and clean floors and a smell like some kind of flower drifted around the air. However, Annabeth's stepmom was nowhere in sight.

"Would you like something, Sally?" Mr. Chase offered my mom. "Tea? Coffee?"

Mom and Annabeth's dad walked into the kitchen. Over his shoulder, Mr. Chase said, "I think Annabeth's still in her room, Percy. Last door on your right in the hall."

To be honest, I'd only been to her house three or four times. I hadn't even seen her bedroom, and he just… I wasn't sure whether to be flattered at the trust bestowed upon me, or what.

As I made my way nervously to Annabeth's room, I heard the familiar gurgle of a coffee maker and the chatter of adults talking about the upcoming trip.

When I got to the last door on the right, I noticed it was open. I walked up and peered inside. It looked a lot like the Athena cabin at camp. Books piled high on shelves in alphabetical order, charts of constellations and topographical maps and buildings cut in half, a desk strewn with graph paper and designs and pencils and math equipment I'd only ever seen in classrooms.

Annabeth was laying stomach-down on her bed, the laptop open in front of her (no surprise there). It was obvious she wasn't ready at all; her blond hair was done up in two braids on either side of her head for sleeping, there was a duffel bag sitting on the chair of her desk that was open and had stuff draping out of it, and she was wearing a pair of wrinkled green pajamas.

She didn't hear me at her door, so I knocked lightly.

When Annabeth glanced up and saw me standing there, she freaked.

"Ah! Percy! Um—" She scrambled out of bed, skittering around, disoriented. "You're early! Ah—"

Part of me wondered why she was still in her pajamas after lunchtime, but whatever. I kicked the doorframe with my heel. "…No, I'm not. It's past lunchtime."

"It is?" She glanced at the clock on her nightstand and cursed in ancient Greek, smacking her forehead. "I lost track of time, I'm sorry. I—" Annabeth froze, glancing down at her pajamas, and then back up at me.

I didn't have any time to say anything back before she darted to the door and slammed it in my face.

"Sorry, Percy. Just give me ten minutes and I'll be out. Wait there for me!"

I leaned against the wall, listening to the sounds of Annabeth running around her room. A few times I heard her curse and something fall to the ground with a _thump_. It made me laugh.

A few minutes later, the door opened and Annabeth came back out, looking flustered, but otherwise ready. Her hair was down (but brushed) and she was wearing a grey tank-top that had the Tootsie-Roll owl on it over shorts.

"I'm okay," she said, smiling with embarrassment. "Where's Dad? And your mom?"

I shrugged. "I think they're in the kitchen talking about us behind our backs."

"Oh." She exhaled a gusty sigh that sounded like a laugh and glanced behind her into her room. "I…guess you can come in if you want."

Annabeth shuffled inside, picking up her laptop in one hand and her NYC duffel bag in the other. She had a mini internal battle whether or not to pack the computer. Her nose was scrunched into a scowl.

I took a seat in her swiveling desk chair and watched through amused eyes as she let out a groan of reluctance and stored it in her closet, shutting it for good measure. When Annabeth turned back and saw my expression, she rolled her eyes. "I need a break from it."

The silence following only gave me time to realize that I was in a girls' bedroom. Alone. With her. Luckily, there was little time to blush because I heard my mom's voice raise from the hall.

"Percy?"

"In here, mom."

My mother appeared in the doorway, wearing her usual 'you darling kids' look. She gave Annabeth a brief hug. "Are you all ready?"

"Yes, Mrs...um..."

"Just call me Sally."

"Okay, Sally." Annabeth smiled again, easy and winning. "I was just putting my laptop away."

Mom laughed. "I see. Well, come on, kids. Let's go get in the car."

Oh, gods. "Mom, don't call us kids." Apparently my plea to them about my mother embarrassing me in front of Annabeth didn't work.

"Sorry, baby." She tried ruffling my hair but I ducked out of the way.

"_Mom!"_

Annabeth stifled a laugh as she adjusted the bag over her shoulder. I saw her lips pursed into a smile that she did not hold back as she looked away.

"Oh, shut up," I grumbled to her on the way down the hall.

She stuck her tongue out at me.

**oOo**

_Terrible… It'll get better!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2—_

_Sally, Percy and Annabeth get to Montauk with a few sarcastic comments, an evil avocado king, and a kiss or two._

**oOo**

As we piled into the car (luggage in the front seat, me an Annabeth in the middle) my mom said, "Okay, here's the deal. We have a pretty long drive from here to Montauk. If there is anything we need, speak now or forever hold your peace."

I opened my mouth to suggest something but she interrupted.

"I packed a giant cardboard box full of snacks, so don't ask for any more. It'll get you two plenty sugared up by the time we get to the beach, no worries."

Annabeth snorted, still trying to hold in laughter, and I elbowed her side. We had a brief elbowing match before Mom handed back a cardboard box full of just about every kind of junk food out there. After exchanging looks, we knew it was going to be gone before we even got there.

The first while of the drive was awesome. Annabeth and I found a box of toothpicks in the glove box and we made up a new game. Whatever you can stab, you can eat. We took turns stabbing different snack foods Mom packed for us. Doritos, Funions, Cheetos. I even managed to stab a mini pretzel and Annabeth applauded.

We got so good at stabbing it got boring.

It was quiet in the car for some time before Annabeth's head lolled onto my shoulder and she began to snore quietly.

My mom peeked in the rear view mirror. "Who's that snoring?"

I whispered back, "Annabeth."

Mom laughed as quietly as she could. "That's too bad, because we're ten minutes away."

I looked around. Sure enough, I recognized the bumpy gravel road heading to the beach.

We hit a rock in the road and Annabeth mumbled something in her sleep.

"Annabeth," I whispered, poking her shoulder. "Wake up. We're here."

She mumbled something else and sank further in her seat, turning her face against my neck.

"Annabeth, we're here. You have to wake up now," I said a little louder, prodding her arm.

She snorted, still dead to the world. "I'm trying to…to sleep….evil avocado…..king…."

"I'm not an evil avocado king. I'm Percy. You have to wake up now." I did my best not to laugh at her. Avocado king, indeed. I didn't even like avocados.

Annabeth yawned. "Your…majesty…"

"ANNABETH. WAKE UP."

Her eyes snapped open. "What? Where? Monsters?"

"No monsters, Annabeth," I reassured her, grinning. "There seems to be an evil avocado king aboard, though. Beware."

She snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. Th— Oh!" The second her eyes trailed outside and caught onto the surroundings, a small gasp interrupted her mid-sentence. "…It's _beautiful_."

A waft of salty air hit my face and I breathed in deeply.

The beach felt how it always did to me: breathtaking. Apparently Mom was right; they did refurbish the cabin. It got a much-needed new paint job of blue and grey, and it looked a little…longer.

The ocean sparkled like diamonds, stretching out in a glorious infinity under the azure sky. It looked like the gods put off their fighting today and make the sky and sea compromise in the best weather I'd ever seen here in Montauk.

"You guys stay here every summer?" Annabeth asked in awe as we got out of the car.

"Yeah," I said, almost not believe it myself.

From the front seat I grabbed our bags and began walking across the sand, Annabeth at my side. She discreetly wrapped her fingers around mine and squeezed.

Though Mom acted like she didn't notice, I saw the shrewd smile creep her lips upwards.

We got to the house and filed inside. The length of it turned out to be a guest room added on the back. Now it had two bedrooms—I guessed I'd be taking the hide-a-bed in the living room. The new room, however, had a small bed, wardrobe and a window overlooking the water.

"All yours," I told Annabeth. "For a whole week."

"Oh…Oh, no, Percy, I couldn't." She still shone, but shook her head. "You take this room, I'll have the couch. I really don't have that much stuff."

"It's alright, neither do I," I tried explaining, but Annabeth didn't bother repeating herself.

There was a moment when she just stood there next to me, looking around, eyes shining. The next moment she put her arm around my neck, kissed me, and then twirled further into the room, laughing.

"An entire _week_!" she said to herself. After stopping briefly to lean out the open window an inhale the scent of the sea, Annabeth looked back at me with a joyous expression. "…Thank you, Percy. Really."

"For what?" I walked up next to her and leaned against the window, too. I knew what for, of course, but (don't laugh!) I was hoping for another kiss.

"Inviting me here."

A breeze drifted in through the window, smelling of salt and warm sand and fish. Both of us closed our eyes against it.

"…The air is so much cleaner here than home." Annabeth cracked a grin, opening her eyes. "Come on."

Without much warning, she grabbed my hand an tugged me along after her and ran outside—

We ran into Mom. Almost literally.

She laughed smiled and turned to us momentarily. "I'm going to town to pick up a frozen pizza for dinner tonight since I forgot on our way," Mom said to us. "Don't get into any trouble. And by all means, do NOT blow anything up."

As my mom drove away, Annabeth laughed. "Your mom is so cool. My stepmom just stands there pointing out your every little imperfection while Dad is just busy."

I pause, looking out over the sea, glad _my_ family wasn't like that. "…Well, you're welcome to be with us as long as you like. We can be your second family."

For a split-second her face shone brighter than the sun, but it suddenly fell.

Luke said that before, didn't he?

"Aw, Annabeth I didn't—" I sighed. "I'm sorry."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and punched me in the shoulder, but it was half-hearted. "Don't be. That was a really sweet thing to say."

But she was still looking upset. We stood together outside the cabin, facing the water, quiet as the long pause settle in. I couldn't help it; I stared. Her hair was draped over one of her shoulders, her chin was tilted down but silver eyes wide and staring out at the horizon with a glazed look.

When she caught me looking she crossed her arms over her chest. "Sorry I ruined the mood. It's nothing. Reall—"

I cut Annabeth off by wrapping my arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. Things that that were automatic to me, not even awkward. One of my hands tangled into the blond curls on the back of her head as she buried her eyes against my shoulder. Despite the situation, I couldn't help but smell the fresh lemony scent of her hair.

We stood like that for a few minutes.

The crashing of the waves echoed quietly in the background, matching with frightening precision the beating of my own heart.

In my arms, Annabeth calmed down and shrank a little more against me. Her hands loosened their fists on my chest until they were flat, and I could feel her sigh that bubbled onto the side of my neck.

"You okay?" My voice was quiet, hesitant, as she pulled away.

Annabeth studied me briefly before turning her gaze back over to the ocean. "…Yeah, I am. Thank you."

I wanted to say more. Perhaps something witty that would make her laugh, or adoring that would make her kiss me, or something that would at least make her smile. Though, sadly, my dad wasn't the god of eloquence, so I just did what only felt right to that situation.

I wrapped my arm around her waist and said, "I think Mom packed some Dr. Pepper in the fridge."

We were sitting at the tiny kitchen table drinking soda when my mom came back in, carrying two frozen pizzas in one arm, and a stack of plastic-cased rental movies in the other.

"Hey kids! I—Oh wait. You told me not to call you kids." She smiled, setting the pizza and movies on the table. "I'm putting the pizza in the oven and retreating to my bedroom before this flash of inspiration disappears."

She often got those "flashes of inspiration" now that she's writing her novel, and I knew from experience that nothing could restrain her from getting them down.

"You're not going to watch the movie with us?" I asked.

She shoved a pizza into the tiny oven in the corner of the kitchen. "No. Maybe tomorrow. You kids enjoy this one."

Though my mom didn't correct herself calling us "kids" that time, I didn't find myself too annoyed that time. Was she only doing that to let us have some alone time. If so, I owed her, because—considering she was my mom—that was a serious sign of trust.

"I might sneak a piece of pizza before going to bed, though." Mom came over and kissed my head. "Don't stay up too late."

The second she disappeared into her room, Annabeth let out a teasing snort, eyes flashing with amusement.

"Ickle Percykins got a kiss from his mommy," she said in a baby voice, puckering her lips at me in jest.

I threw my empty soda can at her, but she ducked. The aluminum clattered onto the floor noisily.

"_Percy_!" Mom warned from her room.

Annabeth stuck her tongue out at me for the second time that day.

The movie we ended up choosing from the pile was actually a decent pick (thanks, Mom,) being some crazy apocalyptic-looking tragic love story or something like that. It had zombies. The only TV in the entire house was this tiny box-like thing in front of the couch in the living room, so we stuck it in and settled down on the open hide-a-bed.

With one of the pizza boxes perched on our legs and a carton of Dr. Pepper under the edge of the bed, Annabeth and I settled down to watch.

Within the first five minutes (of the previews, mind you,) Annabeth had somehow snuck under my arm and was curled against me, legs tucked to her chest. It was easy to admit: she was a lot more interesting than the previews. The way she blinked those fascinatingly-large, silver eyes, the way she had a habit of resting her chin on one of her thumbs, the occasional pucker of her lips as she stared fixedly at the TV.

If she knew I was staring at her, she didn't acknowledge it. The only hint I got that she noticed was when I was sitting back down from manually pressing play on the TV. Her mouth was curved into a sly smile and she looked away from me the second I turned back around, as if she didn't want to seem conspicuous.

As I sat, I flicked her shoulder. "I saw that look you were giving me."

"And I saw the look _you_ were giving _me_."

Touché.

By the last few minutes of the movie, Annabeth had wrapped both arms around me and was half-hiding her moist eyes from the screen. To be honest, I'd barely ever seen her cry. For there to be tears because of a movie really surprised me. So rarely anyone got to see her truly soft, normal side.

When the credits were rolling, she'd let go of me and put her arms around her knees instead. There were no traces of tears left.

The discarded pizza box was on the floor, as was the half-empty thing of Dr. Pepper. I'd quit drinking halfway through, knowing the sugar plus my ADHD would keep me up for hours after. It had turned out to be a good idea after all because it was well past 10-o-clock after the movie ended.

Even after I got up to turn the TV off, Annabeth made no move to get up or even get out of the blankets I'd draped around her. That was okay with me, of course, b—

"Hey, Percy."

I moved an empty can from the bed. "Yeah?"

"You can crash here with me tonight." Her cheeks began glowing pink and she tried to cover up with false nonchalance. "If you don't feel like getting up right now."

The smile that threatened to show was forced back, on the account of me not wanting to make her uncomfortable. "Thanks." I shifted my arm around her shoulders and only hesitated for a moment before pulling the covers up to her chin. "The movie won't give you nightmares?" I teased halfheartedly. "The CGI zombies were fantastic."

"You're ridiculous," she mumbled, sinking down and flipping onto her other side, facing away from me. "Goodnight, Percy."

"…Goodnight, Annabeth."

I watched her for a while until I knew she was asleep, and then stretched out on my side next to her, watching her blond curls shift faintly with every slumbering breath.

Sleep didn't come for a long time, but when it hit me, it was to the lullaby of crashing waves on the shore.

**oOo**

_I was going to make the end fluffier, but that's coming up later. _

_There has to be some progression since it's obvious I made their relationship not quite as developed as it could be. So later there will be PLENTY, if that's what you people like. (:_


	3. Chapter 3

"_What if I went and lost myself? Would you know where to find me? If I forgot who I am would you please remind me? 'Cause without you things go hazy." ~~ "Hazy" by Rosi Golan_

**oOo**

Demigods usually had prophetic dreams. Most were frighteningly real (literally) and ended waking you in the middle of the night with a haunting feeling in the pit of your gut. When I woke the next day, however, the first thing I realized was that I hadn't dreamed anything.

The second was that the hide-a-bed was empty next to me.

I sat up and craned my stiff neck over the back of the couch, looking into the open kitchen where I saw Annabeth. She was still in the clothes she fell asleep in the night before, her hair was behead-messy, and she was facing the countertop next to the two-burner stove. Though I could see exactly, she was making _something_, which really surprised me.

It turned out to be cereal, so my shock dwindled down.

Annabeth turned around a few seconds later, holding two large bowls in her hands. When she saw that I was awake, a smile stretched across her face and she walked around the couch to come sit next to me.

"Finally, the beast awakens," she joked, handing me a bowl of Fruit Loops. "Your hair is terrifying."

"Good morning to you too, sunshine," I teased back. In reality, I was more than happy to see her. For a minute we ate cereal, her cross-legged and me still half under the covers. My eyes cast over to the tiny hallway behind Annabeth. "…Is my mom still asleep?"

Annabeth swirled around rainbow speckles of what was left of her cereal. "No. She went to go outside on the beach. She wanted to wait until you woke up but I told her I'd take care of it." Her mouth curved up into an amused, slightly shrewd grin. "She seems to trust you an awful lot."

It was hard not to laugh. "More like, she trusts _you_ to scissor-kick my head off if I try anything."

In the middle of drinking sugary Fruit Loop dregs, Annabeth snorted, spraying the milk back into the bowl. After turning a little pink and wiping the mess off her chin, she rolled her eyes at me. "…I always had a really weak scissor-kick."

I raised my eyebrows.

"And I _wouldn't_ kick you if you tried anything."

There was a long pause as I tried deciphering that. Either she meant she'd inflict another sort of bodily harm or…

I cleared my throat and swung my legs off the bed, holding my hand out for her bowl. "I'll put these in the sink."

Annabeth gave her empty cereal bowl to me and got up as well. When I came back from the kitchen, she was grinning again. Things like that really didn't stick with her long, did they? Maybe she didn't mean anything from it after all.

"I'm going to go get dressed, okay?" Annabeth said, gathering her hair behind her in a half-hearted attempt to smooth it. "There's no need to waste a perfectly good vacation when the ocean's out there calling our name."

"It's normally too cold," I tried telling her, but she waved me off and went off to the bathroom without waiting to hear anything else I had to say.

Girls…

Sighing, I grabbed my swim trunks and a jacket from my suitcase leaning up against the wall and went off to my room to change.

Halfway through pulling on my shorts someone rapped on the door.

"Hurry up, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth said impatiently.

I threw on the jacket while opening the door. "Gods, we have a whole week, no need to—"

Annabeth, who was standing right in front of the bathroom in a pair of shorts and a see-through white blouse over the top of a bikini, did not wait for me to finish my sentence. She grabbed onto my wrist and hauled me after her, practically bounding out the front door.

It was another beautiful day, with the sun beating the sand hot and the water so calm it barely made a sound on the shore. So unlike the normal Montauk summers…

Mom was already down there, sunbathing on a large orange beach towel.

Annabeth and I shot past.

"Morning, Mom!" I yelled.

"Good morning, sweetheart." She didn't open her eyes.

We kept running to the little stretch of wood poking out into the water about fifty feet away. As the dock got closer, we slowed. Annabeth slipped her cover-up over her head and discarded it on the sand, and I did the same to my jacket. Despite the weather, I still had doubts about the water temperature. And still—I sprinted ahead of Annabeth and got to the deck first.

My leg muscles bunched as I bent and released, launching myself with as much power as I could off of the wood. There was one exhilarating moment where I whooped with adrenaline; I flew so high Zeus would have killed me if it weren't for the water rising up at warp-speed to meet my face.

With a cannonball and a splash that soaked anything within a twenty-foot radius, my body dropped like a stone to the shallow bottom of the lake. The water tugged on me playfully, seeming to wind _through_ me. I could sense it and move it and have it move me, like I was not a solid but a liquid. I had to admit, it was a really weird sensation, but I'd grown to love it.

Ten feet above my head the surface shimmered with the morning sun. The deck was a blurry, dark shape above me, and I could just barely make out Annabeth's head peering over the edge of it.

Multicolored fish swam around me, stopping curiously. They bobbed their mouths open and closed, wanting to talk, but I didn't hang around to chat. I willed the water to push me back up to the top until my head and shoulders popped out in air.

"Percy!" Annabeth laughed, dropping onto her stomach on the dock. "Are you okay? Is it too cold?"

I shook my hair out, splattering her, and pulled myself up so my arms were crossed on the deck. "It's perfect. Usually freezing, but perfect today." It was impossible keeping the sly smile off my face. "You should join me."

"Oh no. You're wearing that _look_. I don't know if I want to encourage whatever brought it on."

"Come on. I mean—how could you possibly resist this?" I flashed her my most ludicrous, pathetic begging look, complete with lower lip and batting eyelashes.

Annabeth shoved my shoulders jokingly, nearly sending me back underwater. "You're so arrogant."

I still won.

She stood, straightened her shorts, and did a loud cannonball in. Beneath the splashing and laughs, I felt her hands grab onto my shoulders and drag me under. Golden hair swirled around her face like drops of food coloring in water, mesmerizing. My chest tugged a little before I remembered that she was unable to breathe underwater.

Automatically, I drew in bubbles of oxygen towards us. The effect always reminded me of pouring soft drinks, the bubbles forming and hissing, letting the air space in the middle grown bigger. With a final "pop" it wobbled to completion and we slid, dripping, into it. Though it was just barely big enough to fit us, we made it work.

Annabeth immediately started laughing. Her curls streamed water down the darkened blue of her swim top and onto me. Since the bubble was somewhat small, she was propped up on a hand that was stretched over to the other side of my legs, and she was practically on top of me.

Pretty soon I'd begun laughing too.

It was abruptly cut off.

My eyebrows shot up as Annabeth leaned over and kissed me, wrapping her arms around my neck and letting our wet torsos press together. It instantly brought on the memory of last summer, a few days after my sixteenth birthday, that moment on the dining pavilion.

"_I'm never going make it easy for you," _Annabeth promised. She was a girl of her word, that's for certain.

I remember the melting sensation I felt when she wrapped her fingers in my hair and kissed me. And Clarisse and the other campers spying on us, dumping us in the lake, and then that kiss—the best underwater kiss ever.

It was hard deciding which was better—back then in the camp, or there under the saltwater in Montauk. My brain _still_ felt like it was melting, no matter how many little kisses we'd shared between.

After what felt like hours—but not close to long enough—Annabeth pulled away, grinning, but kept her arms around me. "An Iris-Message is a completely insufficient birthday present, I think. Seventeen is nothing to scoff at."

"Just another year live without getting stabbed in the back." It sounded funny, but that was literally the only thing that can kill me. Not getting stabbed in the back was a fairly good thing.

"I'm serious." She said, looking down through her lower lashes. One of her fingers wrapped around a strand of my hair. "Since I couldn't get you a birthday present…"

My heart actually stopped.

Blood rushed up to my face and I could just stare at her, frozen.

She saw my face. "No! No, no, no," Annabeth stuttered and laughed, blushing as mad as I was and trying to scramble off of me. "No, no. Not that. No. I meant—"

Again, we began laughing so hard it was difficult to breathe. Maybe it was the nerves or the unintentional reference she made, but it was near impossible to stop.

"I meant—" Annabeth gasped out another guffaw, holding her hands over her mouth. "I meant—I just—Oh, just get me out of this thing I'm about to have a panic attack."

Still grinning, I brought us up to the surface and we dragged ourselves up onto the dock.

Annabeth flopped onto her back, an arm draped over her eyes. A grin was visible on her face and I couldn't help but notice the dips and curves of her bare abdomen.

When we were able to speak again, Annabeth sat up and punched me in the shoulder. "Gods, Percy, take everything I say dirtily, will you? I just meant that we should like bake a cake together or something."

I held up my hands defensively. "Hey, _you_ brought it up."

"Your head is full of kelp." She tugged on a stray piece of my hair and smiled. That smile that made my brain drip out of my ears. That smile that was meant for _me_.

I was about to say something intelligent like, "Urrruughghhhhuuhuh," when a faint _ziiiiip _of a fishing line getting cast interrupted.

Right away my eyes darted to its source, as if on instinct.

The man holding the rod was familiar—Khaki shorts, Hawaiian-printed button shirt, black beard trimmed neatly, floppy fishing hat casting a shadow on sea-green eyes. The end of his fishing line wasn't even visible.

I couldn't stop the inevitable rush of pink to my cheeks. My dad was watching me and Annabeth? Did he hear—?

"Go on." Annabeth nudged me with her shoulder and put her feet in the water. "I'll wait here."

Nervously, I stood and shuffled down the dock and over to the spot on the shore where he was standing. When I got up next to my father, he looked down at me with wrinkles in the corners of his eyes.

"Don't worry, Percy," he said. "I wasn't eavesdropping."

"Uh…"

There was a pause between us that thankfully didn't last too long.

Poseidon peered down his line and gave it an experimental tug. "I'm glad you still come here. It's one of my favorite places. Excellent fishing."

"Um… Yeah." I shifted a little and glanced over at Annabeth, who was still sitting on the end of the dock, swinging her legs back and forth in the water.

"Ah." My dad smiled, his eyes lighting up again as he followed my line of sight and saw Annabeth, too. "You and Ms. Chase. I must say, this is a wonderful place to build relationships. It changes a person. Your mother and I know that firsthand. The sea seemed to always make us both calmer, happier people."

He rubbed his beard. "A lucky girl, Annabeth is, to have you, my son. I trust Athena hasn't given you two too much trouble?"

"Not really." Thank the gods for that.

Though Ares was the one whose specialty was scaring the crap out of me, Athena scared me in her own way. I knew blatantly that if he really wanted, Ares would appear and run some sort of painful god weapon through me and I'd be done. Athena would be the one to spend time plotting a more terrible sort of fate for falling in love with her daughter.

I could never speak that in words, though.

Poseidon let out a rolling laugh. "I'd expect her to pay you a visit this week. Having a relationship in camp is one thing, but this vacation may upset her."

Of course it would…

"I don't see what it has to do with her," I sighed.

"Careful, son." Poseidon gave his fishing pole another tug and began reeling the line in. "If she's going to be your future in-law you're going to want to pay a little more respect."

"My future—?" I started, blushing, but he waved me off.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it." The rod was tucked under his arm. "Say, is Sally around? I'd like to have a word with her."

Though I doubted Mom would like to be snuck up on in her bathing suit, I nodded and pointed off to where she was dozing under the sun.

"Thank you, Percy." After clapping his hand on my shoulder, Poseidon said, "and good luck with Annabeth. She's a lovely young lady, treat her well."

"I will," I mumbled at the sand and watched as my dad walked away towards Mom.

Back on the dock, I sat next to Annabeth and heaved a sigh, casting my gaze out over the sparkling blue ocean.

"What'd he have to say?" Annabeth asked, wrapping her fingers around the crook of one of my elbows.

My shoulders lifted and fell in a shrug. "He just…warned me that Athena might be coming to chew me out this week for inviting you."

"I'm sorry." She pressed her shoulder up against mine. "Who I like really shouldn't concern her. Is that all your dad had to say?"

I tried covering up the faint blush I could feel burning my cheeks. "Um…Nothing much, really."

"Don't lie." An amused smile turned the corners of Annabeth's mouth upwards. "Your blush gives you away. What'd he say?"

It wasn't fair that she could read me better than just about anyone else. I sighed, rolling my eyes at her. "He just said…that this place is, uh…a good place to build relationships." My eyes flicked away from her with embarrassment. "And he told me to treat you well."

Was it just me, or was she glowing? Her smile had changed to something that looked like either pride or adoration—maybe both.

On a surge of bravery, I added, "And he called Athena my future mother-in-law."

To that, Annabeth tilted her head back and laughed. "Maybe, Seaweed Brain. If you behave."

The day passed quickly, and soon we were trudging inside for dinner. Annabeth, Mom and I sat around the tiny kitchen table in our swimsuits, laughing until our sides hurt. It was those times I didn't mind my mom's eccentric personality. She called us kids and joked about mine and Annabeth's relationship, but I wasn't embarrassed.

Instead I felt kind of proud because she was so cool. Also because Annabeth really liked her, and it reminded me that her stepmom was less than awesome, so I decided to put up with mine for the time being.

After we'd polished off the sandwiches and ice tea, all three of us went back on the beach to comb for seashells. Annabeth kept her hand in mine the whole time, and I really couldn't think of a time when I was happier. Really.

The sun was moving closer to the horizon, sending colors of purple and orange shooting across the sky and water. There was a moment when we let Mom get ahead of us and we took a seat on a big rock to enjoy the sunset.

A calm breeze floated by, carrying with it the scent of salt and fish. At that moment I…I wished I could be someone better than who I was. I wished I could do something that Annabeth would notice, wished I could do something a little more impressive than what I could.

She seemed to be oblivious to me, eyes trained on the colors, not moving to swipe away her hair when it brushed into her face.

Far out in the water something stirred underneath the surface. A twenty-foot-tall plume of water shot into the sky, hitting the sun against it in a twist of colors blasting in every direction.

A massive whale—or at least, I _thought_ it was a whale—leapt from the plume and landed on its stomach, sending more water flying.

Next to me, Annabeth gasped and automatically latched onto my arm, pointing out to where the whale breached. "Did you see that?"

I refrain from letting a grin creep onto my face. Behind Annabeth, standing a little ways away was my dad. He gave me a thumbs-up before (literally) dissolving with the sea breeze.

I turned my eyes back to Annabeth, who was giving me a strange, but affectionate look. When I caught her looking she bumped my shoulder with hers. "Hey, thanks for inviting me with you, Percy."

Instead of saying something clever, I pointed the accountability towards my mom. "It was Mom who invited you, not me."

"Well, I'm not going to give your mom a 'thank you' kiss, if that's what you mean."

When I glanced down at her again she'd put her hand on my cheek and pressed her lips against mine.

Even after she broke away, my mind wasn't working properly.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth stood, pulling me up with her. "It's getting late. We should be heading back."

Though I didn't want to quit then, I let her take me back to the cabin.

Hand-in-hand, we walked along the edge of the shore as the sun disappeared below the horizon.

**oOo**

_Bwahahaha! I am done with chapter 3!_

_Please let me know what you think of it!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you SO UNBELIEVABLY MUCH for the reviews I got! You people are just…the sweetest people ever. I owe you guys everything._

_There's going to be some rambling moment, I do apologize. But it's FLUFFY rambling, so good, right?_

_This chapter is probably going to be dragged out, simply because I've had writers block lately. So, I'm sorry again!_

_I think I might have misspelled a name or two, but no matter. Go on. Read!_

**oOo**

When I woke up the next morning, it was to laughter in the kitchen. I peeled my face off of my pillow and glanced through squinty, blurry eyes through the bedroom door to where the kitchen door was open. Annabeth and Mom were sitting at the kitchen table, chuckling over cups of what looked like coffee. They were both still in their night clothes. In fact, neither of them seemed like they bothered doing anything to their appearance.

I didn't mind Annabeth, but her see my mom in a nightdress and hair rollers was—I admit—a little embarrassing.

I got up and stumbled over to the kitchen, rubbing my eyes and peered at them intriguingly.

Annabeth was the first to see me, and she smiled into her cup. "Good morning, Percy."

Mom looked over and smiled as well. "Good morning, sweetie. If you go put a shirt on, you can join us. Would you like some scrambled eggs?"

"Uh…" I blinked and rubbed my shoulder, said, "Sure. Thanks," and shuffled off to put on a shirt.

The night before, I only vaguely remembered kissing Annabeth goodnight, peeling off my sandy, damp shirt and collapsing onto the bed.

Straining my eyes in the bright light, I yanked on a T-shirt from my pack and went back into the kitchen.

Annabeth was grinning when I sat down.

"…What?"

"You know, you _still_ drool in your sleep, Percy." She reached over to ruffle my hair like my mom did mockingly.

I smacked her hand away. "Smartass."

Both of us were grinning, despite Mom scolding me for my language a second after.

"It's getting cloudy out," my mom said as she scrape some eggs onto a plate for me. "It's probably too cold to go swimming, at least until it clears up."

"That's okay." Annabeth reached over to take a drink from my glass of milk. "We were planning on staying in anyways."

I furrowed my brows at her in confusion. "…We were?"

"We were going to make a cake, remember?"

Oh, yeah. I was about to say something when Mom interrupted my thoughts with a small laugh.

"Well, we don't have any mix here," she said. "I can go back into town an pick some up." Before we even responded, she was walking away in the direction of her room—to change, presumably. And from her room, we heard her call out, "Blue, right Percy?"

"Uh… Yeah!"

It took a few minutes for her to get dressed, but before I even finished my breakfast, she was telling us she'd be back later and zipping out of the cabin.

Annabeth scooted her chair over closer to me and crossed her arms on the table, cocking her bed-messy head at me. After a few seconds, she sighed. "…It seems like forever ago you arrived at Camp Half-Blood."

That caught my attention, and I turned my gaze up at her.

"...I remember Chiron calling to me as I made my way to the rock-climbing wall. 'It must be him,' he kept saying." Her grey eyes glazed over as they focused on some point on the other side of the room. "And you were lying there on the porch of the Big House, covered in sweat and…blood from your crash and holding the Minotaur horn and your irises were all rolled back in your head…"

Though the memory was vague in my mind, it was eerie hearing it from another person's point of view. I'd been told about it by Chiron, but it wasn't the same.

"You seemed to hate me at first," I said, grinning slightly. "You were a superior little know-it-all."

Annabeth reached over to touch a spot on my forehead. "And _you_ were an arrogant, clueless, overconfident, smart-aleck boy who couldn't follow directions if his life depended on it."

"Still can't." I couldn't help but wink at her as I got up to put our dishes away. "Good thing we grew up, huh?"

"…Some things never change."

By the look in her eyes I could tell she was being serious, not still laughing about the arrogant and clueless part. I studied her through curiously narrowed eyes.

My Annabeth.

Biting my lip, I turned to the sink and began scrubbing absentmindedly on my breakfast plate. Even when I heard the scrape of chair on the floor, I didn't turn. Not even when Annabeth touched my shoulder.

In fact, the only time I found myself able to turn was when she actually wrapped her arms around me from behind. Her cheek rested on my shoulder blade and her hands clasped together on my stomach.

I wasn't sure what to do.

I looked down at her small fingers just above my naval and saw the whiteness of the knuckles as they clenched together. Sometimes I forgot that she was…well, a girl. And despite her constant reminding, she _did_ have the capability of being fragile.

Once you peeled away her hard outer shell, the inside was frail and delicate and you had to hold her like a baby bird in your hand. It was easy to love that about her.

Relaxing a little under her touch, I took my hands away from the sink and put one of them over both of hers. A little white scar ran from the crook of her thumb across a knuckle.

We stood like that for a while. I kept my head ducked and hand wrapped around hers. To be honest, she'd never given me a back-hug, and I was doing all that I could not to make it awkward. She seemed hunched and small against me, even though there wasn't anything said that could have upset her, really.

After a few minutes, I felt her shift her head. "…I don't think your mom enjoyed it very much when you fell asleep next to me night before last."

"She can't complain too much," I told her quietly, feeling a defiant smile creep onto my lips. "It's the living room."

Annabeth let go and walked around me, propping herself against the counter. "I know. She just seemed…exasperated when I woke up yesterday. She said for me to keep you in check."

"You do that." I flicked some water at her, although I was still curious about what brought on the spontaneous hug.

We milled around the kitchen, shoving each other and making fun until Mom came back with a plastic sack. I knew it was a huge sign of trust when she handed the packages of cake and frosting to me; nothing even stayed clean when I attempted to cook.

"Try not to make a mess, Percy," she said, eyeing me, but then brightened. "I'm going to go write, but I'll come back to sing 'Happy Birthday' when it's finished."

"That's okay," I insisted hastily. "It's not actually a birthday party."

"Of course it is." Annabeth was already digging through the cupboards for a mixing bowl. "Since I wasn't there for it Sunday so we're going to have a party of our own."

I wasn't entirely sure what her version of a party was, but I felt nervous as Mom laughed and left us to the baking.

Thankfully, Annabeth did most of the mess-making.

While stirring, I said something that made her go an elbow me, which made the bowl tip and some of the unstirred batter poof onto the counter. And, of course, she found the perfect opportunity to smack me with the spoon, creating a cake-batter oval on my forearm.

After quite a lot of elbowing, batter-flicking fights and accidental messes, we finally got the cake into the oven.

Annabeth let out a breath and heaved a sigh. Her gaze towards me was very sarcastic and smug. "That hardly classified as baking, Percy. You can't even hold a _spoon_ right."

"I held it right!"

"Yeah, the second before you catapulted it across the counter. You got it _everywhere_." She shoved my shoulder with her own, but then took a backwards half-step away. "I think I should change while it's cooking."

She was still in her pajamas, hair messy around her face, but she didn't seem to care an awful lot. Her face was split into a sarcastic, adoring smirk and her eyes were twinkling up at me.

The grey streak in her hair was there and still prominent as ever, matching the one in my own hair. The shape of her face had lost the childlike roundness and had sharpened. Though she was over four years older than she was when I first met her, she was still the same Annabeth. Though…she was more herself around me. She let her more vulnerable side show through.

Every time I let myself look at her—_really_ look at her—I couldn't help but notice the little things every time. The cock of her hip, how small her wrists her hands were, how her nose was a tiny bit upturned, how her eyelashes were much darker than the rest of her hair and incredibly long, the angle of her cheekbones and chin and…

Gods, she was completely and unintentionally gorgeous—

—and giving me the oddest look.

"There he goes again," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes. "Well, while you're busy wiping that absurd grin off your face, I'm going to be getting something decent on."

I wanted to tell her she already looked decent, but it would not be a good argument. I hadn't even _realized_ I'd been grinning until she mentioned it, and immediately my cheeks went red. Good thing she'd already walked off.

I waited there in the kitchen for her to finish dressing. It turned out that in that bag Mom had dropped on the table she'd also bought two disposable cameras for this week and included them. I opened the package of one and experimentally wound the gear on the top up.

Just then, Annabeth came back. She was in a pair of jeans and an orange Camp Half-Blood tank top, and she was pulling her curly (brushed) hair back into a ponytail. "Hey, Percy, did y—"

I snapped a picture just for the heck of it.

She froze, narrowing her eyes. Slowly, she drew both of her hands down to her fists. "Not fair, _Percy Jackson_."

"What were you going to say?" I asked smugly, peeking at her from over the camera.

Annabeth huffed. "I was _going_ to ask if your mom happened to buy candles."

"Nope. Two disposable cameras, though."

"Obviously." She reached over and snatched it from me, taking a picture of me before I could stop her. "There. Now we're even."

After taking it from her, I put the camera on the table and went to check on the timer.

"How long do these things _take_?" I insisted, peering into the dingy, squat oven at the cake. "It's been half an hour!"

"Patience, Percy. Goodness." Annabeth took a seat on a chair and drew her knees up to her chest. "It's a wonder you ever survived this past year without anything terrible happening."

"Don't jinx it, now."

There was suddenly a noise from outside the door and it opened. Mom walked in—carrying an empty mug and a thick green binder—and glanced at Annabeth on the chair, me kneeling by the oven impatiently and the camera on the table.

"How's it going along?" she asked, walking across the kitchen to the cupboard where the tea was stored. There were moments when I really owed her—and that was one of them, her not even looking twice at the wreck we made of the kitchen.

"It's going fine, thank you. Percy's interest in this baking business is disturbing," Annabeth told her with a little smirk.

After filling the kettle with water and setting it on the stove to boil, my mom took a seat at the table opposite her and picked up the disposable camera. "Ah yes, I thought you two would want to document the rest of the summer. There's supposed to be good weather coming up after this stormy spell, so I'd expect the rest of the week to be fun."

She smiled, and then held it up to her eye, addressing me briefly. "Scoot closer to Annabeth, dear. I want to get a picture of the both of you."

"Mom—"

"Oh come on, Percy." Annabeth stood and tugged me to her, wrapping her arm around my waist.

Sighing in defeat, I draped one of my own arms around her shoulders and tilted my chin down to her.

We smiled, the camera clicked, and I flicked Annabeth in the side of the head with a finger before taking the camera back from Mom. After that all three of us sat at the table and started a casual conversation.

"So, Annabeth," Mom said, lacing her fingers under her chin. "Has that laptop been of any use to your schooling lately?"

Now she's done it. I could feel my eyelids growing heavy already at the mind-numbing topic.

"Oh, yes!" Annabeth said enthusiastically, face lighting up. "I've been taking drafting classes and studying Daedulus' work on the side. He had the most interesting idea of girder support…"

I put my forehead on the table and drooled in boredom as she pulled another daughter-of-Athena moment on us. It would be an excellent time for a nap, but that would be rude. Mom, being the thoughtful person she was, asked all the right questions and acted incredibly interested, just encouraging Annabeth further.

If it were not for the timer on the cake going off, I would have died. The second I heard it I leapt up and ran from the table.

"Gods, Percy, way to curb your enthusiasm," Annabeth said with a smirk, getting up as well. "Don't burn yourself."

**oOo**

_A/N: Okay, okay, okay. I owe all of you an apology. That was terrible. I needed to take a break and breathe and reorient myself. No more dragging out._

_That was awful._

_Anyways, continue. And forgive me._

**oOo**

The cake was done and iced complete with blue sprinkles (you're the best, Mom) and I found myself seated in front of it, a jug of milk, and holding a knife in my hand. Through the little window above the sink, you could see rain had begun to fall heavily, making a sound like thundering hooves against the house. It was grey and dreary out, so I was glad I was inside with Annabeth and a cake for company.

"Afraid it's going to bite?" Annabeth joked, nodding to the knife I had poised above the blue cake for a while.

"It _could_ happen." I cut the cake and handed a piece to her on a napkin. It crumbled a little onto the floor and tabled and was hard to pick up without it crumbling _more_, but we managed.

"Mmf." I stuffed half of my slice into my mouth and let out a muffled, satisfied sound. It tasted perfect. Hastily, I swallowed most of it and turned my head to look at Annabeth. "You know what this reminds me of?"

Her grey eyes sparkled, displaying obvious signs that she did indeed. "What does it remind you of, Percy?" she asked, sucking some blue icing off of her thumb.

A knowing grin was shared between us and there was no need for an answer.

"All it's missing is the obnoxious hoard of campers spying on us. Oh wait—" I snickered. "That's a _good_ thing."

Annabeth scooted her chair closer to me and rested on her elbows. "Too bad it's raining or we could go out to the dock again."

"Just like old times."

We were close, only divided by a single corner of the table. I could smell the lemon from Annabeth's blond curls that were escaping her ponytail, and it was hard not to just stare into those fathomless eyes. I thought they were the color of stone—or maybe a rainy sky—when we first met, but no. They reminded me of an endless, calm silver sea on a calm day, the blinding of molten silver, the band of a ring. A million other things than boring.

"Hey," I tugged on one of her curls playfully, trying not to look mischievous. "If we're honoring tradition, how about a birthday kiss?"

"Hmm…" Annabeth dabbed up some cake crumbs from the table with a fingertip, pretending to look contemplative, but she was unable to hide the smirk. Her gaze fluttered up to meet mine and one of her eyebrows raised in a sweet, cocky expression. "Getting needy there, are we?"

"Would it be a terrible thing if I said yes?"

With a laugh, she closed the distance and pressed her grinning lips against mine.

I nearly sighed into her mouth. She tasted sugary and wonderful and—

_Gods, Percy, keep your head on. Focus on staying upright, not what Annabeth tastes like._

But she tasted so _good_.

It was only when the kiss ended I realized that Annabeth had leaned all the way over and was bracing her hands on my hips. Subconsciously or consciously, we were both aware of it _now_, but neither of us pulled further away. Our faces remained not even an inch away, and I could feel her breath tickling the skin of my upper lip.

She was about to give me a heart attack.

And she was grinning. "…Happy birthday, Percy."

Me, being the intelligent, articulate guy I was couldn't think of anything to say except for: "Thank you."

Annabeth laughed and got off of me (_wait, no, come back)_ to glance around the chaotic kitchen. "…Maybe we should clean up a little before your mom comes in wanting some cake."

"Clever girl. No wonder you're the daughter of Athena."

"Shut your face."

**oOo**

_A/N: Don't you just love these little intermission things? _

_I certainly don't. But I have no other choice. The stuff I was going to add on would not work as a completely separate chapter, so think of the next little bit as more of…a half-chapter. Enjoy, little beans!_

**oOo**

The rain slowly turned into a thunderstorm as the day went on. Annabeth and I were forced to stay inside, but that wasn't a problem. After lunch, Mom brought out this ancient game of Monopoly, and we all laid on our stomachs on the living room floor to play.

Having ADHD and short attention spans, Annabeth and I got bored with the organization and predictability of everything. It turned violent very fast, and the rules were hastily abandoned. My little metal car ran over her little metal dog, which hit a row of Mom's Boardwalk hotels and sent them scattering into the card piles.

Mom, being Mom, tried to calm the feud (by shooting us with her canon) so we sent her to time out (jail). While she was there, the bank was robbed, a tornado ripped all of the buildings from their foundations, and all the little metal pieces were at war with each other. Finally, when I ran my car over her hat (the dog was still laying dead on Kentucky Avenue) she abandoned the game to put me in a headlock.

Though Clarisse definitely had her beat in the headlock department, she caught me off guard. My battle instincts kicked in and I mindlessly ducked to flip her off my back.

"No killing each other in the house!" my mom scolded, scooping up the money and Monopoly pieces before we could kick them under the couch. "If you're going to do that, do it outside."

Annabeth and I paused for a second to glance towards the window. As if on cue, lightning flashed and the wind howled with a sudden ferocity, crashing rain against the house.

Sighing, I let go of her ankle and let her untangle her arms from behind her head. We grudgingly helped my mom clean up the rest of the game.

"Would you like me to put the other pizza in the oven for you two?" Mom asked as she put the cardboard box back in its place on top of the fridge. "There are also still a few movies you could pop in, if you want."

Thunder still rolled outside; wind still lashed the rain against out house loudly; waves from the beach got tossed forcefully onto the surf. It was an awful loud racket.

I glanced over at Annabeth.

"It's a little too loud," she agreed, as if reading my thoughts. "But pizza sounds fine, thank you."

"Okay." Mom smiled and went to put the food in, humming to herself.

Almost absentmindedly, we wandered together past the kitchen and bathroom to the guest room. Outside the window in the room—despite it being only 7:30 at night—the world looked a deep, dark shade of grey. The ocean was one of the darker shades, constantly moving and flickering with life every time lightning split the sky.

My brain brought forth this image of Zeus up in Olympus, fuming mad, stomping around and slashing through the air with his master bolt. It was a frightening picture, but I knew he didn't have to have a reason to send spontaneous thunderstorms across the world. Maybe it was just here in Montauk.

Annabeth and I walked up to the window and stared out absentmindedly.

The roaring of the sea and rain and thunder was like a chaotic song. Listening to the two tones of the water crashing onto the beach and getting sucked back in, the rain sounding like a million hoof beats on the roof and window, lightning briefly illuminating the earth every now and again. I swear I could see things out there moving in the shadows, dancing to the noise. That was probably just me, though.

"Pizza's on the table!" Mom suddenly called from the kitchen, breaking me out of my reverie.

I glanced back at her just then coming into the hallway. She beckoned with a finger and I hesitantly shuffled up to her.

"If she's staying in there, keep the door open," Mom half-whispered, giving me a motherly, knowing smile. When I nodded—cheek pink—she patted my shoulder and left to go to her room, only pausing to say: "That was a fun game we played."

Annabeth appeared next to me, and although she pretended to not have heard my mom, the corners of her mouth were turned upwards.

With the small pizza and bottles of water, we went to the living room to sit cross-legged on the couch, facing each other. I watched as Annabeth meticulously picked each shining olive off and popped them into her mouth.

We didn't talk while we were eating, and when the box was (mostly) empty, I offered to put the box back in the refrigerator. Annabeth insisted that she'd do it, so I let her, announcing that I'd be right back. While she was in the kitchen I went into the guest room.

My bag was propped up on the top of the dresser, still mostly unpacked. I pulled a pair of pajama pants and an old T-shirt from the pack and walked into the bathroom off the side of the room to change.

Annabeth was sitting on the bed when I got back out. She was leaning against the headboard, head ducked, turning something over in her hands.

I went over and sat next to her on the pillows and leaned in to see what it was.

Of course, her bead necklace from camp. Ten clay beads strung on the thin leather cord. Probably more than anyone at camp. Tiny pictures were painted on each, and I recognized five, for all the beads on my own necklace were identical to those. Mine was stuck in the mesh pocket inside of my pack, zipped up nice and safe. I'd only brought it for sentimental reasons; it was special and I couldn't just leave it at home.

She glanced up at me briefly, and then back down, fingering the second to last bead which the Empire State Building was painted on. "…Was it really only a year ago, Percy? The prophecy getting fulfilled… Everything has changed. _Everything_."

I was silent for a minute. "…Is that a good thing?"

"Mostly." Annabeth smiled up at me and set her necklace down on the stand next to the bed. "Olympus is saved, Kronos is defeated. The camp has been thriving, there have been barely any attacks…" She looked up at me, smiling again. "My mom hasn't killed you yet."

"That's certainly a plus."

Rolling my eyes, I got up off the bed to turn out the light. After flicking the switch, the only light came from the half-open bathroom down the hallway. My feet felt their way across the wooden floorboards back to the bed, where I took my seat next to Annabeth. She was on her back in her adorable purple pajamas staring up at the ceiling with a vacant expression on.

"I take it you're staying in here with me?" I asked, amused.

Outside, an especially loud clap of thunder rattled the house down to its core.

Annabeth winced in the dark and then laughed. "Yeah. If you're not going to get chewed out in the morning for it."

"Nah." I laid down next to her, folding my hands on my abdomen. "I enjoy listening to you talk in your sleep."

"Shut up…" She tried yanking a blanket out from under me. "Get off this; I'm freezing."

After getting the bedcover out from underneath me and wrapping it around her like a cocoon, Annabeth let out a yawn. "Good night, Percy."

Though we weren't touching, I could feel the heat that radiated from her small body. In the dark, only few blond curls were illuminated. Next to her, listening to the lullaby of thunder and rain rolling from the skies, I fell into a dream-ridden sleep.

**oOo**

_There. Finished._

_What was your favorite Percabeth scene from the books? Just curious. Write it in your review if you want. _

_SoggyBug ~~~(Just a few more weeks until summer, people! Hold on until then!)_


	5. Chapter 5

_I really do warn you, if you like serious structure, stop reading. This fanfiction is just for the random babblings of Percabeth. No real plot. So don't complain pretty please because I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING. _

_Thank you! You can read now._

**oOo**

_"Open your eyes, demigod. Now is not the time for stillness quite yet."_

Into the dream I was pulled feet-first. My eyelids, though heavy, peeled open and I found myself in a white room.

The ceiling was at least twenty feet tall, beautiful white marble carved with birds and trees and overlapping shapes that were unidentifiable. Columns lined the four walls, all matching and shining with a blinding quality.

"Look at me, Percy."

The voice was feminine, alluring, somewhat familiar, but beautiful. It played like honey in my ears, too persuasive. I turned eagerly to pinpoint the owner.

My eyes automatically snapped to a woman.

She was tall, slender. A dark dress cascaded liked a waterfall down the curves of her waist. High cheekbones, full lips, eyelashes that framed eyes—I could not tell the color. The colors of her irises and her hair were not fully recognizable, morphing before my eyes, ever-changing but more beautiful by the second. Her presence made something behind my naval tug towards her.

Who better to enter my dreams than the goddess of love herself: Aphrodite?

She smiled, melting my insides a little unintentionally. "You've grown since I last spoke to you, Percy Jackson. Not so much the boy who helped us on Olympus last year."

Not knowing what else to say, I ducked my head. "Thank you, My Lady."

Aphrodite smiled again and stepped closer to me, examining my face like it was a piece of art. "Do not be so humble, young half-blood. You did us a great service." She let out a laugh like a chorus of angels and put her hand to her chest. "Oh, but I'm not here to talk politics. You know why I'm here, don't you, Perseus?"

She was the goddess of love.

Of course I knew.

My cheeks grew red automatically and I dropped my gaze with embarrassment to the shining tiled floor. "…Annabeth and I aren't…aren't serious, Lady Aphrodite. It wasn't even me who invited her along on the vacation."

"Asides from a sour attitude, denial is love's worst enemy," the goddess said knowingly. "There's no need to try and contradict your feelings, honey. You two are more than just friends, are you not?"

It was a week after Kronos' destruction last year, I remembered, and Annabeth and I were in Central Park together after getting lunch. We were talking and walking down a path through the trees, and out of the blue, she took my hand. It took several minutes after that, but I finally got up the courage to ask her to be my girlfriend—it sounded so lame and awkward to my own ears, but she laughed and accepted with a punch to the shoulder.

Although we were _technically_ dating, we'd gone slowly. Even kisses were somewhat rare compared to the other couples seen around New York. Despite that…yes, I cared a great deal for her. I couldn't help it. I loved holding her hand and listening to her laugh at me when I did stupid things, and times when we'd sneak out of our cabins to sit on the dock to watch a meteor shower.

I couldn't say we were just friends.

"See?" Aphrodite gave me a shrewd little smile. "Even you cannot deny there is something happening. Maybe you're not completely aware of it yet, but that is where I come in." After a bit, the goddess said, "…Your father visited you."

"Yes, ma'am." I kept silent, brows furrowed with concern while she looked me over some more.

"Oh, don't worry, Percy, I already know." She laughed as if that was terribly funny, smoothing her dress down her front. "Would you like to know what he wanted to talk to your mother about?"

That's right. He _did_ ask where Mom was, but it never really occurred to me to wonder why exactly. If this goddess wanted to bring it up, it couldn't have been too good.

"Have you wondered why you and Annabeth have not been scolded for sleeping together?"

Blood rushed to my face and I was about to stutter when she gave me a look, and I shut my mouth quickly.

"Yes, Perseus, I've been keeping my eye on you two. Olympus' most endearing demigod couple—" Aphrodite clapped her hands together, and I could see ten perfectly manicured nails. "So much potential. We wouldn't want any mortal parental feelings hindering that, now, would we?"

"My dad told Mom to—to let—me and Annabeth—?" The words would not come out correctly. I was mortified.

"Not to the degree you're thinking of, dear." She pulled a small compact out of nowhere and checked her makeup in it. "Please don't act like that was such a terrible thing. Even you can admit your love life needed a little sprucing up. I would have visited myself, but something tells me your mother listens to Poseidon a lot more than she would me. Thank goodness she _did_ listen."

Aphrodite put the compact away and turned her mouth upwards in a sly expression. "You've noticed she's been leaving you two to your business? Leaving for a number of reasons to go to town, off 'writing' in her room, turning a blind eye on your sleeping arrangements. That w—"

"My Lady Aphrodite, no offense," I started hastily, still humiliated, not caring I just interrupted a goddess, "but mine and Annabeth's relationship is nothing like that. We wouldn't consider—I-I mean, we're only seventeen, ma'am."

"…Demigods tend to die at a younger age, honey. When it comes to love, there is no such thing as rushing."

Boy, could I disagree with that.

I stuttered and blushed and shuffled my feet awkwardly. "Why does it—I mean, why should you even…why are you caring whether or not Annabeth and I—"

Aphrodite tutted her ruby-red lips and shook her head at me. "I do not interfere in other people's courtships, half-blood. I am the goddess of love; it's my job to make lovers like yourself and Ms. Chase simply realize your options and pull yourselves out of possible denial and realize that your paths have met and do not intend on parting any time soon."

"Look, I appreciate your concern for our relationship, My Lady," I started, finding it very difficult to look her in the eye with confidence, "but Annabeth doesn't even think of me in that way."

The meaningful grin that spread across the love goddess' face was almost frightening. "Are you so sure about that, Perseus Jackson?" She motioned behind me and I turned to see on the wall a giant mirror—but it wasn't a mirror.

Through it, the scene was dark. If it weren't for some godly crystal-ball powers, I probably wouldn't have been able to see at all, but there it was.

I saw a familiar-looking bed in a familiar-looking room. There were the faint sounds of a passing storm in the background, but even that was just barely audible. On the bed was two people; one was fast asleep, laying on his back with his head on his shoulder and mouth closed and hands laced on his chest.

Next to the boy was, of course, a girl, but unlike the person next to her, she was awake and sitting up. One of her arms was draped across her waist, ending on a hand just barely touching the boy's shirt. The other was curled over to the other side of the boy's head, and through the dark I saw her fingers stroking a bit of hair back from his forehead with a tender touch.

Even the look in her eyes was gentle. Tired, but gentle. Why was she not sleeping?

My cheeks remained red and my throat closed up a little as I snuck a quick glance at Aphrodite. She looked highly pleased.

"Well, Percy?" Aphrodite asked, raising a finely shaped eyebrow at me. "Are you going to show her that her affection is reciprocated?"

"What?"

"Are you going to do something about that or are you going to let her believe that you are not aware of her feelings?" she repeated patiently, turning her head back to the glass on the wall. "Not tonight, of course."

"…My Lady?"

Aphrodite looked at me and smiled. "You have plenty of time for that. For now, young demigod, _rest_."

And with that, she disappeared, leaving behind only the faint scent of designer perfume and a sense of unease in my gut.

The scene was still up on the wall.

I walked over to it, closer, and put my hand on the surface. It felt hard and cold, but did nothing to the picture behind it. Annabeth still stayed there, gazing down at my sleeping form. She was so much unlike the Annabeth I knew every day. She looked soft and gentle; no cocky expression or raised eyebrow or smirk adorned her face. Was that even her?

It couldn't be anyone else.

I closed my eyes from the dream and felt myself surface, but just barely, like floating on water, just your nose and the tips of your toes in the air. Like that I could _feel_ her fingers stroking my forehead, her curled next to me.

_Do not be afraid of love, my child. It has the power to rule worlds._

With that, both the dream and the real world melted away as I drifted into blackness.

I woke up with a mild headache and morning breath sticking my lips together. Letting out a soft grunt, I opened my eyes to find the bed next to me empty. It was to be expected, Annabeth waking up before I did, but whenever that happened I couldn't help but feel a little sad. Maybe she really didn't fall asleep next to me and it was just my pathetic old brain making things up to make me feel better.

Did that mean—?

No, Annabeth _did_ fall asleep next to me. Aphrodite would not have visited. What she had told me still echoed in my head. Did she really want us to—?

I brushed that off. Whatever happens will happen. There was no way I was going to push anything on Annabeth. Stull… It took effort, but I brushed it off again and sung my legs from the bed, stumbling upright.

The bathroom door was open a crack, so I shuffled over, yawning, and pushed it open. What I found started me. Annabeth was already in there. She was standing in front of the mirror, humming, dressed in only a tank-top and underwear, brushing out her wet, golden hair. When I pushed the door open, she turned, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Oh, gods. Sorry, Annabeth," I said hastily, turning a mortified shade of red, and started backing out of the bathroom hastily.

She just laughed, not bothering to close the door after me or anything. "I didn't expect you to be awake this early."

I kept my gaze ducked and shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. "…Sorry," I repeated.

"Don't be." Annabeth turned and began brushing her hair again. "We've seen each other in a lot worse states. Your second year at camp when we were out looking for the Golden Fleece, and the ship blew up. When I pulled you from the water, your clothes were almost completely blown off."

I stared at her, mouth open in mortification.

"Oh, wait. You were unconscious for that part." Her brows furrowed and she blinked. "…Anyways, I'll be out in a minute."

Feeling horribly awkward, I went over to m pack and absentmindedly pulled a pair of clothes from it. The image of Annabeth in her lacy red underwear wouldn't leave my mind, nor would Aphrodite's visit.

Stop it, _stop it_. You do _not_ think of her in that way, Percy Jackson.

I felt terrible, ashamed to be even _thinking_ like that. We'd been friends for year, and that's what we'll always be.

_Are you so sure about that, Perseus Jackson?_ a sugary-sweet voice asked in my head.

"Shut up," I snarled, stomping into the only other bathroom in the house to change.

Trying to keep a relatively blank mind (as free of Annabeth as it could, which was not very) I took a 2-minute shower, changed clothes, brushed my teeth, and tried to comb down my mop of hair. It needed a trim, but oh well. The guys back at camp were constantly reassuring me that girls loved shaggy hair.

Annabeth was already in the kitchen when I got out. She was wearing short denim shorts, a button-up blouse, and her hair was braided down on shoulder. The clay bead necklace from camp was on her neck, and it went surprisingly well with the outfit.

When I came in, she rolled her eyes.

"Your shirt's on backwards, Percy."

It was.

Ignoring that, I went over to the cupboards and proceeded to pour out two bowls of cereal. It was impossible to stop thinking about…it. I must have been putting off vibes of some kind because Annabeth addressed it.

"Percy, seriously. Don't sweat it," she said. "You look like you're about to throw up."

"It's not just that," I began to tell her, but was suddenly cut off.

My mom walked into the kitchen. Her hair was still messy, but at least she wasn't in her embarrassing nightdress and hair-rollers like last time.

She went over and grabbed a mug from a hook in the wall and started some coffee. "Did you kids sleep well with that storm?"

Thankfully, it had stopped the worst part some time early in the morning. Rain was no longer falling in lethal waves, the sea was no longer trying to smash the shore into oblivion, and the lightning and thunder had stopped. Now, the sky was just a flat shade of gray. Not even wind touched the trees nearby.

We both answered Mom with vague "yeses" and tried not to act too suspicious, even though we both knew that _Mom_ knew that we slept in the same room. Okay, fine, the same _bed_. It didn't hurt anything.

After filling her coffee cup and grabbing a bagel, Mom left again and I was confronted.

"What were you about to tell me?" Annabeth asked, folding her hands into her pockets.

"Um… Nothing." Something small and shiny tumbled out of the cereal box as I poured the last of it in a bowl. I caught the object, looked at it for a moment and then pocketed it.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

I don't know what made me hide the stupid thing. Something inside of me told to keep it just in case I needed it for something. Who would need a stupid cereal-box ring? For _anything_?

Annabeth did not look amused, but she didn't push me. She only gave me a peculiar, narrow-eyed, suspicious glance and then took her breakfast back to the table.

After breakfast, Annabeth tried to persuade me to play volleyball with her. It took a while, but I agreed, and we took the ancient, semi-flat ball out onto the beach to smack it around. To cut a long story short, I failed _miserably_. Annabeth was always hitting it perfectly and either smacking it in my face or I missed by several feet.

It was fun, all in all, but when we went in for lunch we didn't go back out for a while because a cold drizzle had started falling.

After that, it was mainly a lazy day. Annabeth sat on the couch, a book balanced on her knees, deeply engrossed in George Orwell. I draped myself across the couch (putting my feet across her lap) and napped, despite her whining that my feet smelled like fish.

They most definitely did _not_.

Around six o'clock, Mom zipped to the store and came back with a massive bag of baseball-sized strawberry marshmallows and packets of slimy, cold hotdogs, announcing the rain had stopped so we could have a campfire. Annabeth pulled herself away from her book and helped us gather firewood.

Soon we had a big bonfire crackling on the sands of the beach, roaring a bright orange color. It was not as fun as the fire back at camp, but it was better because there were no annoying campers taking bets on whether or not I'd kiss Annabeth.

I speared some marshmallows on two sticks and handed one to Annabeth, and sat next down to her. In the firelight her hair seemed to look white-hot. It was quite mesmerizing, but I made the mistake of staring at it for a second too long and my marshmallow caught on fire.

I ended up tossing the entire thing in the fire as an offering for Athena, praying she didn't kill me.

As the sun disappeared completely behind the horizon the moment became more dazzling. Mom bid us goodnight (I winced, remembering what Aphrodite had said about why my mom was leaving Annabeth and I alone so often) and went in early, leaving just the two of us sitting side-by-side in front of a campfire, burning nearly every marshmallow we got our hands on.

Quiet settled upon us easily. The only sounds were the sharp hissing and crackling of the fire and the rumbling of the ocean.

_Are you going to show her that her affection is reciprocated?_ Again, the goddess of love popped up in my head, urging me forwards.

No, no, no. Whatever I did I wanted to be on my terms.

But…They would be, right?

I peered sideways at Annabeth. She was wrestling a sticky, melting marshmallow that was sliding down the side of her roasting stick. A crease was between her eyebrows but a frustrated smile was on her mouth as she peeled the mess off and attempted to eat it without getting it smeared across her face.

It was incredibly endearing.

Annabeth looked at me and scowled slightly. "You're laughing at me."

"No, I'm not."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes I am." I grinned and leaned back on my arms.

My head still wouldn't shut up. I wanted to scream at it.

"Hey, Percy," Annabeth set down her roasting stick and drew her knees up to her chest, not looking at me. "Are you…okay? You've seemed odd today."

Why wouldn't I?

I feigned ignorance. "What do you mean 'odd'?"

She gave me a slightly reproachful, worried look. "You know what I mean. I know you do. So why don't _you_ tell _me_?"

There was a moment of silence.

I put down my roasting stick, too, and considered the best way of explaining it. "_Yeah, see, the goddess of love visited me in my sleep last night and she told us that she told my dad to tell my mom that we're free to mess around with each other. Not that I'm actually considering it, no! Oh, and she says she's watching us. Just for your information."_

Something tells me that wouldn't fly too well with her.

Let's try to break it gentler, yes…

I rubbed the back of my neck with a hand and exhaled noisily. "See… I kind of…had a dream last night."

Annabeth immediately snapped to attention, sitting up straighter and pursing her lips. "Was it my mom? Oh gods, it was wasn't it? Percy—"

"It wasn't Athena," I reassured her feebly.

The greenish look to my face must have given me away perfectly.

If it was possible, Annabeth looked even more bummed. "Of course. Trust Aphrodite to make things awkward between us just when we were starting to have some fun… Percy, don't listen to anything she says."

Maybe that wasn't the best thing to be saying at that point (just for the sole reason that the gods had the power to blast her into a pile of ashes) but I didn't try to tell her off.

"Well, she…she said that she was the one that convinced my dad to talk to Mom." Since I was unable to look at Annabeth directly, I stared into the fire. "I was kind of wondering why she was being so…lenient with us. She sees more than we give her credit for, but the mom I'm used to would be locking my room at night."

Annabeth stared into the fire as well, looking very glum. "…So Aphrodite told Poseidon to tell your mom to lay off of us? That's so…_low. _We're perfectly fine the pace we're going."

The only reason I didn't say anything to that was because…well…I wasn't sure I agreed. Having so much time to think about it, about the possibilities… I mean, instead of sitting a few inches away from each other we might have been curled up in each other's arms. Instead of sleeping on top of the covers side-by-side we might have been under them, with her head on my shoulder and—

That was exactly why I didn't let myself think about it. Annabeth deserved so much more than someone who wanted— No, I didn't want. No.

I refused to believe I wanted her in that way. No way in Hades.

Instead of delving into the topic more, Annabeth just shook her head and leaned her shoulder against mine and put one of her arms around my torso. "I wouldn't worry, Percy. Don't let what she said mess with you, okay? I love you just how you are and we don't need any goddess to tell us what to do."

Did she just say…?

It took all of my mental power to figure out what to do or say to that. I ended up reaching up to brush away a strand of her hair and undo the necklace around her throat.

"What are you…?" she started to ask, but went quiet when she saw me slip the ring from the cereal box onto the string.

"Something to remember," I said simply, and tied it back on her.

Annabeth just smiled. "You're such a dork."

For once, I agreed with her and drew her closer to me to enjoy the warmth of the fire.

**oOo**

_Duurrhurhur. I feel so nerdy writing things like that._

_So guess what! I'm doing the 100 themes challenge from deviantart. You get a list of 100 themes and draw a picture (or write a poem or something) to go with each. I'm doing all of mine Percy Jackson style. _

_If any of you are interested, my deviantart account is mymonkey13. I don't get on often at all, but there are some pretty neat things I've drawn up there! Plus, if anyone knows how to change your pen name on there let me know because I want it to be SoggyBug and not mymonkey. _

_Thanks!_

_Please review, you guys! _

_Oh, and you guys understood what Aphrodite was talking about, right? Well, if any of you want (or don't want) it to go that way, let me know. I promise that if it does happen it'll stay strictly PG-13 or less. _

_So, question of the chapter, DO YOU WANT THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO GO THAT WAY?_


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed last chapter! I see that most of you want it to go that way. I already have an excellent idea planned. Details later, though!_

_On request, I'm going to do some different points of view. This chapter is in Annabeth's POV, obviously, but I might make one in Sally's POV some time, too! _

_**WARNING**__: CHEESY FLUFF STUFF. _

_Oh, and also warning: There is going to be some OOC-ness in here and dragging-out-ness because I can't possibly resist. :D_

**oOo**

**ANNABETH'S POV**

The next morning I woke and—finding myself in Percy's arms—I was tempted to stay there until he woke up. The past times I got up quickly, feeling like the longer we stayed on the same bed, the higher of chance my mom would unleash hell upon Percy, which was honestly the last thing I wanted. It wasn't too much of an issue, though, because I nearly always woke up before him.

Careful not to jostle the bed too much, I wriggled out of the covers and padded to the door, only stopping for a brief moment. Back on the bed, Percy lay sprawled out, face expressionless with slumber, snoring endearingly and had one of his arms hooked over the place where I'd been sleeping. I wasn't sure how I felt about him, but I knew there was definitely affection somewhere in there, not too deep.

Smiling a little bit to myself, I crept out of the room, grabbed some clothes from my suitcase and began making my way to the bathroom.

When I walked past his room, Percy was still snoring away (I swear that boy could sleep through a freight train attack). Maybe he could stay asleep long enough for me to take a short jog. I wasn't an exercise freak, but every time I imagined myself 250 pounds and waddling around camp in a too-tight orange T-shirt, it frightened me enough to keep in shape.

After trading normal day clothes with a pair of sweats and a sports bra, I went into the bathroom to change. Though I sincerely didn't care that he'd seen me in my underwear (I'd worn bikinis around him; the two don't seem too different in my eyes), I made sure to close the door behind me before dressing.

Only checking to make sure Percy was still dead to the world (he was) and shoving down a piece of toast, I left and started a brisk pace down the shore.

Within a few minutes I felt my heart pumping. It felt good, and the air had warmed up a fraction that day. Clouds had mostly left the sky and things were looking beautiful again. Though the water was most likely to be too cold to swim in again yet, with all things considered, it was a gorgeous day.

About a mile down I turned around to head back.

As I was running, nearing the cabin again, I could see a tiny figure standing out in front. That tiny figure was in a pair of green swim trunks and a T-shirt, was squinting at me, and was ruffling his messy-from-sleep hair.

I slowed to a stop and took a moment to breathe heavily before approaching Percy.

"I thought you'd stay asleep," I told him, panting and wiping the back of my sweaty neck.

"Good morning to you, too." Percy's grin was wide and hi eye-roll was nearly as good as mine. "I was just curious since you weren't anywhere in the house. Have you had breakfast yet?"

Always looking out for me. I wanted to make some smart-aleck response, but I just shrugged. "I had some toast."

"Mom's fixing pancakes if you want some," he suggested, and then reached up to flick a piece of my hair away like he did often.

I was disgusting and covered in sweat, so I told him I was going to take a quick shower before accepting his offer.

On the way past the kitchen, I saw Sally Jackson at the stove, humming lightheartedly. When she saw us walk past, she turned and said, "Before I forget, Percy, on my way back from the store yesterday I noticed the boardwalk a few miles down the beach from here with rides and music and such. It'd be a fun place for you two to visit if you don't mind the walk."

Though Percy looked a little exasperated, he smiled at his mom and said, "Yeah, that sounds great!"

It was hard not smiling to myself as I went to rummage through my suitcase for clothes. This whole trip… What was there to say about it? I admit to being sick of my family, and a whole _week_ with Percy seemed almost too good to be true. I expected monsters to pop out of the sand and attack us at any second, but in the meantime, I enjoyed the peace with him.

Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon…

He was so awkward and sweet. I loved just watching him sometimes, his ridiculous facial expressions and how he tries so hard but most of the time ended up making a complete fool of himself. It's endearing. I'm not exactly one to go skipping around in a field of dandelions talking about love or other mushy junk, but something inside of me skips when I catch him giving me _that_ _look_. The look with his eyes slightly narrowed and the corners of his mouth turned up in an adoring look and the little pinkness to his cheeks.

What was it about that boy that caught my eye? I really had no idea, but I enjoyed it.

With my hands stuck in my suitcase, I rummaged for a second more until my fingers felt some light material folded at the bottom of the bag. I brought it out, but felt ridiculous doing so. How come I'd packed a dress? I didn't wear dresses. It wasn't colorful or particularly flashy; just a plain white, cotton dress that had small straps and ended at my knees.

The battle inside my head was quick, but I deduced that no harm could come of wearing it, so I zipped off to the bathroom before I could change my mind.

The look on Percy's face was absolutely priceless when I came out of the bathroom, hair braided down one shoulder. I was feeling terribly self-conscious, but made an effort to act as casual as possible, walking over and taking a seat at the table next to him and propping my elbows up on the wood.

Percy's eyebrows were arched, and he was about to say something before I interrupted him.

"Don't even _think_ about saying anything, Perseus Jackson." I narrowed my eyes.

He held up both hands protectively. "I'm not. I was just going to say you look really nice. I don't often see you in dresses."

Thankfully, just then, his mom swept down to the table holding a giant plate of blueberry pancakes and a jug of maple syrup.

I gave him my best glare while pouring syrup over my breakfast.

He just grinned.

After breakfast, Percy and I filled my messenger bag with snacks, stuffed some money in our pockets and set off. It was the most casual of casual walks; we left our shoes back in the cabin, wandered around patches of rocks and beach clay and laughed and held each other's hands. Percy had a habit of wandering off into the waves and walking up to his ankles in the saltwater.

Even if he hadn't been claimed, soon enough it would have been obvious of him being the son of Poseidon. The way he was around the sea… It was like he was a completely different Percy. Freer, happier…and of course, there was that glint in eye that I knew so well. That was where he _belonged_. The open sea, the salty breezes and the seagulls calling and the sun beating hot on your shoulder.

Percy glanced down at me and smiled, nudging me with his shoulder. "What? Do I have something in my teeth?"

"No." I shook my head and looked away again, taking care to step over a patch of rocks. "You just look really at home. I like it when you're so…carefree."

He grinned again, wider, and then surprised me by wrapping an arm around my waist and pressing his lips to my cheek. "Good thing you're here. Makes it ten times better."

"Want some wine with that cheese?" I teased, but straightened my face back a little. "I'm glad I'm here, too. Beats finishing up the summer listening to reruns of SpongeBob and my stepmom griping at me. Instead, I'm at a gorgeous beach, taking a walk down the surf to spend the day at a carnival with my boyfriend."

Saying it out loud made it sound even better, but I didn't add the whole dress factor. Annabeth Chase never wears dresses. Shush.

That word—_boyfriend_—made Percy's lips purse with an effort not to smile even broader. He didn't say anything at all, but that was okay. There was no need.

It was a long—but lovely—walk to the mini fairgrounds. The boardwalk began and the first thing Percy pointed out was a booth quite near us. Behind the counter was a middle-aged man holding a handful of darts and trying to convince passersbys that it wasn't really that hard to pop the balloons on the opposite wall.

"I bet I could do that," Percy whispered to me, bumping his shoulder against mine.

We watched as two little kids came up to the booth and began popping balloon after balloon, and walking away with fistfuls of candy.

"I bet you could, too, Percy."

We walked on a bit, sauntering past booths and watching families with children try their hand at games. Briefly Percy stopped and bought us bright red balloons.

"So where to?" I surveyed the area, toying with the ribbon of my balloon, which was tied around my wrist. "Rides?"

"No, I want to try my hand at that booth over there."

He was pointing at one where you threw balls and had to get them into certain targets. The ones that earned higher point were many feet away.

"This ought to be good," I mumbled, amused, and followed him over to the booth.

Percy had on the funniest look of concentration as he rolled up his sleeves and demanded five balls from the tender.

"Don't forget that the angle you throw matters on the velocity and the force behind the throw," I told him, mostly to be sarcastic.

Percy gave me an exasperated, affectionate glare. "Wise girl…" he mumbled, and then turned his attention back to the game.

5 points scored a piece of candy. 20 a small stuffed animal. 50 a giant stuffed animal.

Percy used several dollars to throw the balls over and over again, but after nearly twenty minutes at the booth he only had a handful of candy.

I winced as his last ball it the corner of the 5-point stand. "Percy, maybe we should—"

"No, no! I've got this!" He slapped another dollar down on the counter and the tender gave him the balls back with an irritated sort of look.

Percy managed ten each with three balls, fifteen with one and five with the last. He gave a triumphant laugh.

The tender's eye twitched, and he reached up to grab a stuffed animal that was dangling from the ceiling. With a tight, "Congratulations," he handed it to Percy and turned his back on us.

As we were walking away, Percy knocked his hip into mine. "Hey, Annabeth."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"All yours." He put the stuffed animal in my arms.

Was I in a movie, or did that actually just happen? Percy spent at least ten dollars on a game at the fair to win me a giant stuffed panda. Was it his stubbornness that made him continue or was he really aiming to get me a stuffed animal?

I wasn't sure, but whatever happened, it made me uncharacteristically skippy. I hooked the panda under my arm and put one of my hands on Percy's cheek to kiss him. I could feel his smile beneath my mouth, though it didn't last too long.

"Did you just spent half of our money on a single game just to get me this stuffed panda?" I asked him, holding our faces not even an inch apart.

"Yes, ma'am, I did." He winked. "Promise to name it after me?"

"What? Seaweed Brain? Dipwad? Arrogant Idiot?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of Percy the Panda, but to each his own, I suppose."

Somewhere, music was playing. I imagined it was from a live band by its quality, but it sounded a ways off.

"Where to next?" Percy wondered aloud as we began meandering around again.

There were so many rides to choose from, but there were also games and rides and music— I had no idea. That was okay, though, because wandering did us good. We needed time to relax and talk, just Percy and just me.

When lunch came, we bought ourselves greasy carnival hotdogs and sat at the end of the boardwalk to eat. Percy the Panda sat at my right while Percy the Human sat at my left.

It was turning out to be a beautiful day. The sky was a brilliant shade of blue, speckled with few clouds. Though the ocean was peaceful the noise behind us disturbed the would-be serenity. Clamors of laughter, shouting, ringing of bells and music and whirring of the rides pounded behind my eardrums.

With the sound came smells: burning sugar and popcorn and greasy fried foods and salty sea air and trash and the smell of New York: the smell of _people_.

It overwhelmed my senses but made me strangely happy. Away from the high expectations and sweat of camp, away from my family, away from normal, mortal school… There was no place I'd rather be right then than sitting on the boardwalk there with Percy eating fatty hotdogs and watching seagulls dive-bomb each other over the ocean.

"Hey, Annabeth, can I see your bag real quick?" Percy asked, interrupting my pleasant reverie.

I nodded and passed him my messenger bag while sucking the last bit of relish off my thumb.

Percy opened it and rummaged for a second before pulling out one of the disposable cameras.

"You brought it?" I sighed in dismay. It wasn't that I didn't think I was photogenic or anything. I just _really_ hated things being pointed and clicked at me. For Percy, I put up with it, only because I wanted this week to be documented as much as he did.

When he aimed the camera at me, I drew my stuffed panda into my lap and forced a smile onto my lips.

"Shall we be off then?" After taking the picture and stuffing the camera back into the bag and standing, Percy offered his hand down to me.

"Are we going back to the cabin already?"

"Not unless you want to." He helped me up and scanned his eyes around the rides. A smirk began forming on his face. "…I see a carousel with your name written all over it."

"And I see a freak tent with _you_ name written all over it," I retorted.

"And _I_ see a dark alley with a pedophile waiting for you with your name writing all over it."

"_Percy Jackson!"_

"What?" He shrugged, trying to conceal his laughing expression. "If I was a pedophile I'd rape you. You're cute enough."

"_Cute enough?_"

"You're not bothered by the rape comment?"

"By the gods, Percy, you worry me sometimes." I grabbed my panda and let him follow me stomping back off into the crowds.

Percy caught up quickly. He put his hands in his pockets and leaned in a little closer to me to be heard over the racket. "For the record, Annabeth, you're far cuter than 'enough'."

"You're digging your hole deeper and deeper, Seaweed Brain."

In the end, he managed to drag me over to the carousel anyways. Fantastically decorated pastel horses in different poses rotated around the middle stand as whimsical, doinky music played from speakers. Young girls sat atop the lavish-looking saddles, clinging to the poles, giggling to one another as the ride revolved.

"There is no way in Hades you could pay me enough to get on that," I declared, crossing my arms and planting my feet firmly on the ground.

"Come on." Percy grabbed my hand and when the carousel slowed to a stop, he towed me behind him up onto the platform to buy a ticket.

The elderly man took our money with a wheezy chuckle at my reluctance and obstinacy. "Enjoy childhood while you can, darling. If people see an eighty-year-old up on those things I'm sure they'd be a lot less appreciative."

Though he had a point, I still gave Percy my best glare before giving in.

"You owe me so much for this Percy," I snarled, hoisting myself up onto the nearest horse. It had a cotton-candy-pink coat and a baby blue mane that curled around its ears as it reared up on two blue hooves.

He just smiled up at me and adjusted Percy the Panda in my lap. "I already do. Now try to wipe the scowl off and enjoy the ride, okay? It beats staying home, does it not?"

"…It does," I admitted reluctantly, grumbling. "I just feel so…foolish on one of these things."

"I don't know." He winked, just as the carousel began rotating slowly again. "Pink is _so_ your color."

I chose to ignore that.

To be perfectly honest with myself, I wasn't too upset about that. I really did feel foolish, but some part of me wanted to make it last. There I was, a sixteen-year-old demigod (daughter of _Athena_, nevertheless) riding atop a pink pony on a carousel with a stuffed panda in one arm, a balloon tied to my wrist, wearing this stupid dress, skipping around at a carnival eating ice cream and giggling with Percy.

Truly? It _did_ beat being back home. It beat nearly getting mauled by hellhounds and being in charge of everything and holding the weight of the world on my shoulders (and trust me, I've done it before). What the old man said was truer than I gave him credit for; I wouldn't be allowed to be a kid for long, so I should enjoy it while it lasted.

Percy knew that I felt that way. I could see by in the fond glint in his sea-green eyes and the triumphant smirk. One of his arms was resting behind my hips on the horse's rump, and the other was still in his pocket as the ride crawled on.

"I want so badly to take a picture of you right now," he admitted, grinning up at me. "It would make fantastic blackmail. Imagine: Annabeth Chase, head of the Athena Cabin, Little Miss Pain-in-the-Butt herself riding on a carousel."

The glare slid back onto my face and I beat him down with it. "If you _dare_, Perseus Jackson—"

"That would be the third time you've used my full name against me today," Percy noted, interrupting my death threat. "If I promise not to show the picture to anyone?"

"No."

"If I keep it in a box under my bed?"

"_No."_

He cupped his hand and whispered into my ear, "Or I could tell everyone you wear lacy red underwear."

"_PERCY!" _I snapped, smacking his shoulder. "You are in so much trouble, young man, when we get home—"

"I'll take the picture," volunteered the old man who ran the carousel. He was hobbling out of his spot in the center, laughing his wheezy laugh, holding out his hand for the camera.

Percy thanked him and stood next to me while the picture was taken.

"You're dead meat," I hissed menacingly to him, crossing my arms even tighter.

For a few minutes I sat there on that stupid horse, arms folded stubbornly, scowling, until the carousel began to slow. When it finally stopped, I got off and stormed over to the nearest food vendor and bought a large black coffee.

"…You really are a spoil-sport."

I chose not to be bothered too much by his overwhelming attitude and arrogance at the moment—not responding to his last comment—but made him buy me some more ice cream to make up for it.

"No wonder you've been acting so strange today," I pondered aloud to Percy while strolling through the crowds. "If there's anything I've learned today it's to not give an ADHD teenage boy sugar."

He grinned at me over his double scoop of rocky road. "My mom learned that _years_ ago. Yet my blood runs as pure corn syrup."

"That's revolting," I said, getting a terrible mental image. True as his ADHD may be, it was I who'd kept feeding him sugar the past few days. And okay—I admit—it was a little endearing when he got to such a sugar-high his confident skyrocketed. He rarely ever treated me like a typical boyfriend would treat his typical girlfriend, thank the gods, but getting enough confidence to tell me I was cute enough to be raped was…flattering (once you get over the disturbing part).

"Sorry I'm such a buzz-kill," I told Percy with a little smirk.

"Sorry I said I'd rape you." He put his arm around me comfortingly. "I wouldn't. You're kill me."

"Well, that's reassuring…"

It was nearing 7:00 at night. We'd eaten so much junk food my stomach hurt, and played games until we only had a few dollars left. With the last of it, we bought tickets for the ancient-looking ferris wheel. The ling was long, but at last we managed to get some seats. I wedged my stuffed panda in between me and the side of the box and huddled against Percy as we were strapped in.

"Afraid of heights?" he teased.

"No. Afraid that this rickety old thing snapping apart and burying me under four tons of metal."

It was true; the ride _did_ look about 50 years old. I could see rust on its support joints and the bolts that held our seat together. I knew that I'd be safe, but just in case, I clung tightly to Percy's arm.

The ride started up and we began crawling backwards. To be honest, it was a little anticlimactic at first. My grip eased on my boyfriend and I was able to relax, just as we were getting near the top.

The view was shockingly beautiful. It was like you could see the entire Earth from our perch atop the ferris wheel. Water stretching to the east as far as the eye could see. So many colors form the carnival rumbled underneath us a vivid streak; balloons slipped from hands and soared up past us, miniscule people ate and laughed and danced and walked in clusters. Past the carnival, the world continued, with trees and a city nearby.

"Still afraid of this thing falling apart?" Percy asked, taking his arm away to wrap it around my shoulders.

I shook my head and closed my eyes, savoring the taste and the feel of the moment before it ended. The soaring of my chest every time our spot on the wheel lifted, the wind blowing in my ear (or maybe that was just Percy). I'd submerged myself so much in the sensation of it all I didn't realize when the ride beneath us began letting out an ominous shriek.

Percy's arm tightened around me. "Don't freak," he wanted, and I opened my eyes right as the ferris wheel let out a final _CLANG_ and shuddered to a stop.

My heart stopped with it.

"Don't freak," Percy repeated as I swiveled my gaze out the ground below us.

Fifty feet. At least. Maybe 100.

People scrambled around like ants, shouting at friends and relatives stuck on the ride.

And we were at the very top.

I reached out with one arm and grabbed my panda and the other clung to Percy's shirt.

"Percy," I squeaked, voice rising an octave. My eyes refused to tear away from the ground. "PERCY."

"They'll get it up and running in no time, Annabeth, just breathe. Close your eyes if you'd like."

I did that exact thing, leaning into him for extra support. Part of me felt incredibly weak for having a minor panic attack like that. At least it wasn't spiders, though… With their eight little legs skittering all over and their little hair bodies and their eyes and…

Breathe.

This is not spiders.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. _Listen to the ocean. Feel Percy's arms around me. You will survive._

You will survive.

I took another breath and opened my eyes.

It was no longer terrifying.

Beautiful, in fact.

We'd been at the boardwalk all day long, long enough to be there to see the sunset. As high we were then, it was more the gorgeous. Spears of purple and orange and pink and red shot from the horizon, turning the bottom of nearby clouds numerous shades of sherbet. The Earth seemed bathed in the warm, golden light. Maybe the ferris wheel would collapse and we'd all die, but at least we'd get to see one last picturesque sunset before we did.

The breathtaking sight made me forget about my fear. My eyes would hardly blink, being so mesmerized.

I looked up at Percy and found that he was staring not at the horizon but…me. Instead of looking away in embarrassment like he usually did, he shook his head and smiled down affectionately at me. The romantic part of me wanted to do something like kiss him on the cheek. Thankfully, the real Annabeth Chase took over.

I punched him on the shoulder instead and turned back to watch the sun. Though the slight disappointment was obvious on his face, he just rolled his eyes.

Down below us, a man with a megaphone apologized to those of us stuck up on the wheel and guaranteed to get us down within just a few minutes and refund the ride. As promised, it wasn't even five minutes before the ferris wheel hissed to life as people were deposited safely on the ground.

"Let's not try that again," I suggested with a shaky laughed while we stumbled out of our box.

It was getting dark out—okay, it _was_ dark out. Everything was bathed in a dark blue light, but that didn't slow anything down at all. Twinkling lights and flashing bulbs and glow-sticks donned the carnival. People were still walking around and laughing and playing games. A certain amount of spirit was spotted by the stage where live music indeed played.

"How about one last stop before going home?" Percy asked, eyeing the music with a certain glint I was sure I liked.

However, I agreed reluctantly and let him lead me over to the space where people were dancing around to grinning people up on a stage with microphones and guitars.

"Might I remind you that I'm unable to dance," I told him, hesitating before entering the crowd. "And our lives aren't exactly on the line this time."

"Are you rejecting me, Miss Chase?" He put one of his hands on my hip and took my other in his own.

No. I wasn't. Without saying anything else, I put my free hand up on his shoulder and let him lead us into an ungainly dance.

We'd gotten there a little late; the song ended not thirty seconds later.

Percy and I paused and shared a tentative smile before slower music began, keyboard and guitar and hushed voices into a microphone.

Normally, I wasn't much of a dancer. During the school year—last year—I'd been forced to take an entire quarter of swing dance at my mortal school. Let me tell you, I've been to the Underworld and back, slept in sewers and disemboweled monsters and have been peed on by hellhounds. Nothing was worse than putting on tasseled dresses and getting swung around by guys I didn't even know.

Dancing with Percy was different. He was awkward and clumsy, but gentle. His hands were careful on my waist, and every time he'd step on my toes he'd apologize until I told him to shut up.

Halfway through the song, I wrapped both my arms around Percy's neck and put my head on his shoulder.

"Hey, Percy?" I asked as we turned an inelegant circle. "Do you think your mom's going to be upset that we've been out this late?"

"…Probably, but she's _Mom_." He folded his fingers behind my back. "But she can't complain too much since we can't exactly carry cell phones with us. She'll be fine."

His mother was being seriously merciful. If I was her I'd never in a million years let my teenage son and his girlfriend out of my sight, nevertheless spend a say alone miles away at a carnival without any means of communication or curfew or anything. If what Percy said was true and Poseidon convinced Sally to leave us alone in that sense, then he much have more power than Im previously thought.

Even then, dancing as close as we were, I wondered what was on Percy's mind. I knew him better than anyone else (except his mom) and I knew for a face that something else was said during his dream about Aphrodite. Whether or not it affected his boldness with me that day, whatever was said played a significant role in his point of view of me. Though I was _dying_ to know exactly what it was, I let him keep it to himself for the time being.

I was so absorbed in my curiosity; I almost missed the end of the song.

Percy noticed my distraction, but kept his arms around me even after the song ended. "You up for a few more or are you wanting to go back?"

"…Maybe one or two more," I told him, but before the musicians started up again, I reached behind me to take my hair band out, letting my hair fall down my back.

Yet again, Percy got that twinkle in his eyes, looking at me like I was the first sunrise he'd seen in years. The expression was gone quickly, though, replaced by an ashamed blush and furrowed brows. I was certain whatever Aphrodite had told him was causing that shame because Zeus knows it was never there before.

The next song was just as slow as the last. I found it slightly annoying that Percy was holding me at arms'-length for that one, keeping his brows creased and the guilty expression on his face. I was so annoyed, in fact, that I found myself closer to him, just to defy whatever stupid feelings that were hindering our dance. I twisted the tips of my fingers around his hair and leaned into his solid, familiar chest.

Percy wavered a moment before lifting his hand to touch my cheek unsurely.

Maybe I was denying it—but what was there to deny? The feelings I had for this idiotic boy? Every time I thought about it my mind wandered elsewhere, as if I was subconsciously not permitting myself to consider it. I was never completely allowed to think about how I felt for him—only uncertain snippets. There in his arms, feeling his hand on my cheek and lips in my hair, I forgot about our parents' rivalry, any obstacles.

Instead of worrying about my mother, I let memories of Percy slip into my mind.

His first year, the arrogance all new demigods had, but his protectiveness over me and loyalty to both me and Grover. His second year, with the Sirens, the first hint of feelings I had for him but forbid myself to feel. His third year, risking his life to find me after I'd gotten kidnapped, that look in his eyes when he rescued me. His fourth year, all those days in the Labyrinth, in Mount Tam when I kissed him. His fifth year—all that bloodshed—turning down the offer to become a bog—the look he gave me, as if I was the sole reason to stay—when I kissed him and he didn't realize he'd sighed into my mouth, and Clarisse dumped us into the water and he made a bubble for us—and that underwater kiss—

To Hades with our parents.

I cupped Percy's face in my hands, bringing my lips to his ear, and I whispered something to him. My cheeks burned but I didn't care; it needed to be said.

Percy's steps faltered and he sucked in a barely audible breath.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything," I told him, smiling nervously and dropping my hands back down to his shoulders. "I just thought you should know."

Looking as though I'd hit him over the head with a plank of wood, he just inhaled deeply and nodded.

The rest of our dance was—I admit it—a little awkward after what I said. When the song ended, we let go of each other and I grabbed my stuffed animal from his hiding place behind a popcorn machine. After silently agreeing it was time to head home, we both said goodbye to the flashing lights and candy smell of the boardwalk to go home.

Percy was silent. He only acknowledged my existence when I took his hand, just glancing over to give me a worried smile.

The darkness had settled smoothly upon the beach as nighttime took over. With the serenity, however, came shaped in the dark that did nothing for a high-stung demigod's sense of security.

"Do you have Riptide with you?" I asked Percy, glancing behind us to where the boardwalk fair looked like a handful of fireflies.

He checked his pants pocket before nodding. "You worried? Do you see anything? Smell monsters?"

"I'm still human, Barnacle Head," I snorted. "I don't smell anything but the beach. Nor do I see anything. I just don't like behind out in the open in the dark out of the borders of camp."

"Don't worry… I'll keep you safe."

Every other time he's teased me about that, I'd joked about not needing his protection. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't; it didn't matter. I just didn't say anything about that in response.

Thankfully, the monsters must have had a pretty filling lunch, because none came to eat us. Soon, the dark lurking shape of the seaside cabin rose in front of us. By then, it was nearly pitch black out. The ocean gurgled menacingly and—don't get me wrong, I'm not actually afraid of the dark—I was relieved to step into the glowing warmth of the cabin.

All was quiet.

The only light visible in the house came from the kitchen, which was unoccupied. Sally must have left it on when she went to bed, because judging by the lack of life from her bedroom door, she was fast asleep.

Percy and I automatically walked into the kitchen. Though there wasn't Sally, she'd left a note on the table, which read:

_Percy—_

_I would have stayed up late enough to see that you two got home safely but my eyes wouldn't stay open any longer. If you're still hungry there is plenty of food in the refrigerator, including leftover cake._

_Hope you kids had fun and got home alive._

_Go to bed soon, and don't cause any trouble!_

_Love you,_

_Mom_

Percy glanced over at me. "…You hungry?"

"Nah." Just then, a yawn escaped my lips and I reached up to rub my eyes. "Actually, I'm pretty exhausted. I say we call it a night."

To change for bedtime, we parted ways into separate bathrooms. I absentmindedly yanked my dress off—tossing it across the towel rack—and pulled on a pair of pajama pants and an old tank top.

When I went back into the living room, Percy was perched on the arm of the arm, frowning heavily at the back of my George Orwell book. When he heard me, he glanced up and set the book down on the covers with a _thump_.

"I don't see how you can stand looking at those tiny letters for more than three seconds without getting a headache," he said."

"Practice." After moving the book, I stretched out on the hide-a-bed covers, resting my head against my hand to look at him. "And my dyslexia isn't as bad as yours since I'm a daughter of Athena."

"Don't' remind me." Percy grimaced, but then laughed and stood up. "Well, I'm going to…go to bed now… See you in the morning, okay?"

"…Okay."

My eyes followed him all the way to his room, even after he closed the door.

Damn it, Annabeth. You ruined everything.

You shouldn't have told him that.

Now he doesn't even want to _look_ at you.

I grabbed my panda from the other side of the couch and stuffed it over my head. _Idiot_.

No, no, no, another part of me said at the last second. You just made him nervous. Percy is awkward enough without you confessing things like that to him. He just doesn't know quite how to respond.

He still likes you, the voice said.

You didn't ruin everything. Merely…stalled things a bit, which is easy to fix.

I pulled my face back to look at my stuffed animal miserably. His black, plastic eyes stared lifelessly into mine.

Take control of your own life, Annabeth Chase.

_That's right_, I thought, gripping my panda and swinging my legs off the bed. You're the daughter of Athena. You're _supposed_ to be pushy and annoying. Plus, Percy never had a problem with you sleeping in his bed _before_.

Still, I hesitated before cracking open Percy's bedroom door and shuffling inside.

All the lights were off. Through the very faint grey coming in from the open curtains, I saw Percy laying on his stomach on the bed, face pressed into a pillow, blankets pulled up around his bare chest.

When I came in, he rolled his head to the side and squinted at me inquisitively.

Wrapping both arms around my stuffed panda, I asked in a quiet voice, "Mind if I join you?"

"'Course not." He reached across his bed to turn the covers next to him down.

It was hard ignoring that wary look in his eyes as soon as I was aware of it. Okay, maybe "wary" wasn't a good word for it. Unsure, definitely, but also… concerned. For a brief second I stared hard at him, trying to figure it out, but gave up and crawled into the blankets next to him with my panda.

When I got settled down, using my stuffed animal as a pillow, and Percy hadn't said anything, I crossed my legs under the blankets. "Thank you for taking me to the boardwalk today," I said quietly.

He smiled tiredly at me, but it dwindled down to a look of worried concentration.

"Something's bothering you, Percy," I noted finally, breaking my vow of keeping that observation to myself. "It's driving me mad. If it was important, you'd tell me, right?"

"Of course I'd tell you. IT's just…not something you'd normally tell." His voice was nervous, maybe a little sour.

Our eyes met and Percy looked so distraught that I lifted my hand to touch his shoulder, but didn't push the subject.

There was silence for a bit. Neither of us moved where we were; Percy on his side facing me, me on _my_ side facing _him_, with a hand on his shoulder and head on my stuffed bear. Then Percy suddenly sighed.

"Annabeth, back at the boardwalk, during the dance, what you said…" he started carefully, biting his lip.

I let out a small, bitter laugh. "Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have said that."

"No, no!" Percy's cheeks began reddening and he reached out as if to hold my hands but stopped at the last second. "I'm…I'm glad you did. I just wanted to say that I…I…"

I waited with baited breath.

"I just wanted to let you know that I…I think I love you too." His face, even in the dark of the room, glowed an embarrassed scarlet and he flopped over onto his back to avoid meeting my gaze. "Just so…just so you know."

What was there to say about that?

I couldn't stop the grin from slowly spreading across my face.

To my surprise, Percy started laughing completely out of the blue. He ran his fingers through his hair with a gusty exhale. "You have no idea how good It feels to finally say that. A weight off my chest."

My grin wanted to become laughter, too, and I had a terrible time keeping it in.

"You're laughing at me!" Percy said, almost indignantly, but was still chuckling.

"I'm not!" Scooting closer to him, I snuck under one of his arms and curled my own around him, using his bare shoulder as a pillow. "That doesn't mean I'm not laughing _with_ you, though."

"A fact that's going to wake my mom us and get us both in serious trouble." Percy stretched his arm across us to tuck the blanket up to my chin, something that hadn't been done for me since I was a little girl. "…Goodnight, Annabeth."

"Goodnight, Percy."

For the first time in—okay, the first time _ever_, I actually let myself enjoy him against me. I'd chosen a night to visit when he slept shirtless; under my head and arm I felt the result of how hard Camp Half-Blood worked him. The hard muscle, the soft, tan skin, the scars.

And he was _mine_. Percy, in all his sarcastic, adorable, charming, overconfident, gorgeous, arrogant glory. Despite everything, there we were, and—

Footsteps could be heard out in the hallway. They paused in front of the bedroom door and the doorknob rattled. A wedge of dim gold light was cast across the backs of my eyelids as the door opened. Though I kept my eyes closed as if I was sleeping, I knew it was Sally awake and checking on Percy.

She sighed, obviously at my refusal to sleep in my own bed. A second later, the door shut again and the footsteps faded away.

As soon as the sound disappeared, bother Percy and I stifled laughter, even though neither of us said anything.

There were no more disturbances that night, and after a while, unconsciousness found me and I dropped off into a dream-ridden sleep.

**oOo**

_So let me know what you guys think, okaaayy? That was a terribly long, drawn-out chapter, but I admit, it was SO MUCH FUN. Hehehe. _

_But did y'all get what Annabeth whispered to Percy when they were dancing? She told him she loved him. Ehehehe so sweet! _

_Anyways, review if you wanna, and I'll try to update ASAP. _


	7. AN

_Thank you to everyone who didn't give up on me! You guys are beautiful and wonderful and I wouldn't trade this group of readers for the world. Love you all!_

_Aphrodite, as one of you pointed out, is slightly OOC. I apologize, because she pops up again in this chapter, but it's harder than it seems bringing someone "into character." So I don't think I'm going to try. I'm taking the lazy way around things._

_Actually, Annabeth and Percy might be a little OOC, too, but only because they have never talked about sex before. So deal with it. I'm doing the best I can. _

_Anyways, please read and tell me what you think! Glad everyone likes the fluff!_

**oOo**

**PERCY'S POV**

My dreams were not in my favor that night if I valued my sanity.

When I first opened my eyes, I was looking down upon the beach.

The sand was powdery white and the ocean was a magnificent blue, with a cloudless sky and warm orange sun. There, spread out on the sand was a checkered blanket. On the blanket I sat in a pair of swim trunks. It was odd, though… I knew it was me, but I looked…different. The change wasn't clear, though. I still had the same hair, the same face, held myself the same way, but all of the imperfections were wiped out. It was as if I was something else looking at me, someone who obviously liked me _a lot_.

Next to me on the checkered blanket was Annabeth in a scanty yellow polka-dotted bikini (something, might I point out, that the real Annabeth would never touch). Like the Other Me, she was different. She was 100% with no doubt the Annabeth Chase I was curled up with at that moment in the real world, but she was indescribably beautiful, skin and hair damp and face split into a grin as we had an inaudible conversation.

The Other Me said something, which made the both of them burst out laughing. Annabeth shoved my shoulder a little and said something into my ear, which made us both turn pink but laugh harder.

I was irked that the real me wasn't let in on the joke, but all I could do was keep watching.

For a few more seconds the two of us in the dream laughed, but Annabeth got a more bold—perhaps devious —look on her face and said something with a matter-of-fact expression and leaned a little closer to the Other Me. The Other Me shrugged and replied, closing the distance between them and gathering Annabeth onto his chest and kissing her.

Wait a second—

I don't think I appreciated that. Even though it was _me_ down there, I didn't like how he was treating her, where his hands were going. She didn't seem to mind, but—

The corners of the scene began growing foggy, like someone breathing on a cold pane of glass.

The last thing I saw before the picture completely disappeared was the Other Me reaching to undo Annabeth's bikini top.

I stumbled into the next dream with my fists balled up and in a fuming rage.

It was the room I was in before, with the marble columns and shining white walls and the faint smell of perfume wafting around. Knowing where she'd be, I wheeled around on my feet to come face-to-face with Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

"That was _seriously_ uncalled for," I said through gritted teeth, barely containing nasty words.

Aphrodite adjusted the straps of her white, floor-length dress and shrugged, not bothering to keep a sly smile off of her face. "Now, Perseus, don't go getting so upset at me. That was _you_ down there, sweets, not I."

"That wasn't me," I argued, fists still balled. "You created that out of your own fantasies, not mine. You _planted_ that into my head."

"And into Annabeth's."

"Annabeth's?"

The goddess tutted. "Lower your voice, demigod, I don't like being yelled at. But yes, I did. I've already discussed things with her as well, but obviously, neither of you are too happy with this favor I did you."

"It wasn't a favor." I grabbed at my hair and made a frustrated noise in the back of my through. The rage had not dwindled; it filled my gut like hot coals. "You probably just ruined our entire vacation! If only _I_ had the dream I could keep it from her without making things awkward, but now the both of us saw _that_—"

"What was wrong with it, pray tell, young half-blood?" Aphrodite was not taking my anger at her too well. Her slim arms were crossed over her chest and her brows were slightly knit.

Her question threw me off. What was wrong with it? Well… we…

I snorted, crossing my arms as well and scowling heavily at the floor. "…I would never disrespect Annabeth like that, My Lady. She's more than just my girlfriend; she's my _best_ friend. I'd never even consider…"

Aphrodite's fine eyebrows lifted. "Oh, but haven't you?"

"…Not seriously, My Lady. Like I said, I respect her."

"She didn't look like she minded too much."

"She wasn't herself in that dream, either."

The goddess sighed heavily and puckered her lips quizzically at me again. "I suppose you're going to say again that she doesn't think of you in that way?"

I didn't say anything to that. After what had happened the day before—on the dance floor, feeling her in my arms, her lips bear my ear, her telling me she loved me… Maybe she does, but I-I respect her. There was no way I would….

_But would you?_

No. No, I wouldn't. Absolutely not.

Next to us on the wall, a mirror materialized, a giant one twice the height and ten times the width of me. All I saw was just me and just Aphrodite.

"Percy, did you wonder why you looked so different in the vision I sent to you earlier?" she asked in a gentle voice, stepping closer to me. "Each of your subconscience had a role to play in the making of that vision. You saw how perfect Annabeth was to you, did you not?"

I looked up at her with my brows furrowed and lips pursed uneasily.

"You each got the exact same picture." Aphrodite touched the mirror and the glass melted into the scene I had seen earlier, though this was just a motionless view. Me and Annabeth, arms curled around each other's waists.

Yes, I saw how beautiful Annabeth was. Even seeing her like that in a picture, something inside of me felt like it was reaching out, wanting to wrap around her, pulling me closer to her, as I always felt around her.

The goddess of love reached out and touched Annabeth's motionless picture with a delicate finger. "This is how you see her. Flawless, perfect in your eyes. Is she not?"

With a slightly lump in my throat, I nodded and admitted, "She is."

Aphrodite slid her finger down to the picture of me next to her; flawless as well, much better than I was in real life. "Well, this is how _she_ sees _you_, Perseus Jackson. Gorgeous, poised, funny, sure of yourself; everything she wants you to be and sees you as."

The picture melted back into a mirror. Again, we were just looking at Aphrodite and me in the room we were in, but it wasn't entirely _me_. It was the glorified version of Percy Jackson. Immediately, it reminded me of Circe's island. Before I got turned into a guinea pig, Circe stood me in front of a mirror and showed me how I'd look with all my flaws erased. Straighten my teeth, tan my skin, trim my hair, tone my muscles to perfection, give me designers clothing and a winning smile.

When I was looking into the mirror with Aphrodite, however, it was different. I was still me, still in my own clothes with the same teeth and hair and smile, just…better. Just in Annabeth's eyes. No frothy pink drink would erase my flaws because in her eyes…they didn't need to be erased. I was just right.

The thought was oddly comforting, though corny.

Aphrodite looked smug as she wiped the mirror away. "What I showed you, Percy, was not meant to create any problems. You were as she sees you and she was as you see her. If you both embrace that connection, the fantasy I showed you can easily become reality. You two would fit together like puzzle pieces."

I kept my gaze on the ground. I didn't want to admit that she was right. Maybe she really wasn't. I loved Annabeth—the night before only strengthened that feeling—and I couldn't imagine a life without her hand in mine, but was the goddess telling the truth? If we both accepted our feelings and displayed them outwardly and put aside all the negative feelings our parents had towards each other, would things veer in that direction?

Is that even a choice? What I saw in the vision thing was most definitely…not something I'd consider doing at that point. It seemed really disrespectful to Annabeth as a girl, but Aphrodite was right. She didn't look like she minded, and if the goddess _was_ right, then if we were to "embrace our feelings" then—

I exhaled loudly and rubbed my eyes. "Why did you chose to help _our_ relationship? I'm pretty sure there are a ton of other bickering old people in New York that could use a little nudge."

"It's my job, Percy. I do not take these things lightly." Aphrodite gave me a warm smile, but her head suddenly perked a little as if she'd heard something. "…We're almost out of time. Remember what I told you, young half-blood. I won't be visiting anymore because your father…disapproves, but I hope our little chats have been enlightening."

"Enlightening…" I mumbled, knowing that whatever the word was for our "chats," "enlightening" was not one.

"It's always your choice." The goddess took a step towards me and extended a slender hand as if to touch my forehead, but had on a scrutinizing look as if there was a giant zit throbbing there. "Just know that there is nothing to be afraid of. Be yourself around her; that's all she really wants. Until we speak again, Percy."

Like getting a burlap sack thrust over my head, everything suddenly became black and stifling, and I woke.

My eyes pride themselves open.

I glanced over to my left and realized with a jolt that Annabeth was still in my arms. She almost always woke before me. Why was she—?

Oh, gods. Aphrodite said that she'd talked to Annabeth, too, didn't she?

With my free hand I reached up to run my fingers through my hair and tighten my lips, taking the last few seconds of silence to think what I could do. I didn't have a few seconds, though, because the second I moved my arm Annabeth shifted. Her eyelashes fluttered against my shoulder and she blinked up at me, an indecipherable expression in her grey eyes. It was obvious that she had been up for a while thinking.

Maybe Aphrodite hadn't told the truth.

I cleared my throat. "…Good morning."

"Morning," she said, propping her chin up on her hand, which was resting against my chest. "Sleep well?"

I rolled my eyes over to her in the most sarcastic, incredulous look I could muster.

Annabeth tried to grin, but it was halfhearted and pink. "Thought not. You too, huh?"

"I swear," I mumbled, closing my eyes and sinking into the blankets, wanting to shut away everything. "She's going to kill me one of these days."

"Percy?"

"Mm?"

"That's what's been bothering you, isn't it? Those few nights ago when Aphrodite first visited you, she didn't just say that she talked to Poseidon, did she? She mentioned…this before?"

In order to avoid Annabeth's gaze, I took my arm away from her and sat up on the other side of the bed, rubbing my neck with a hand. At least she was taking it better than I was. Perhaps Aphrodite had softened the whole thing for her, leaving out the whole sex part. In the ideal world that would have happened, but sadly, this was not the ideal world and Aphrodite wasn't the most merciful goddess.

When Annabeth didn't move or say anything, I stood and shuffled over to my pack and pretended to rummage around in it for clothes. Despite the comfort level, I doubt my mom would be peaches and cream with me walking out of the bedroom—with a girl—only wearing boxers.

There was a slight rustle from the bed and Annabeth walked up behind me. "Did she, Percy?"

My lips pursed again and I turned my head to look down at her. So delicate…a few inches shorter than me…lovely blond curls that were messy from sleep…those grey eyes…

"…More or less." My attempt at a smile felt more like a grimace. "I didn't want to mention it because it would…ruin things. Make things weird between us."

Annabeth curled her hands up on my bare chest and stared at them in thought, head tilted downwards.

After what I thought could have been years, she finally spoke again.

"…Percy…" she began, cheeks turning a faint pink but nothing else betraying the set look of her jaw. "It…It is really your choice. I mean, if you want—"

"No." I stopped her right then and there, quickly grabbing her hands and moving them away from my chest, staring her right in the eyes and not caring if I was pink, too. My heart had begun thrumming swiftly in my throat but I ignored it, gripping Annabeth's hands as if they were grenades. "No," I repeated firmly. "I will _not_ disrespect you like that, Annabeth. You saw that—whatever that was. You saw it. That wasn't us, that wasn't _me_. I would never—I mean… You _did_ see it, didn't you?"

Why was I suddenly doubting myself?

Annabeth nodded unsurely.

"I'll never do that to you," I whispered, loosening my grip on her hands a little, letting our fingers wind together. "If there was any way to hurt a perfect girl it's to…to do _that_ to her, to treat her like—" The words were fumbling out my mouth, but she was letting me fumble. "You're not just a girlfriend. I value you as a best friend more than anything and I don't want to…. I'd never…I'd never do that to you."

For a while she was silent, staring at a spot somewhere on my chest, biting her lips, gaze averted.

"…You'd never…do that to me," Annabeth repeated softly after a while.

"No." I brought her hands up in mine and let myself take a second to breathe and press her small fingers against my lips. "No, I wouldn't. You deserve better than someone who wants that."

She flicked her gaze up to mine and a brief smile crossed her face. "So it's not because I'm the daughter of Athena?"

I couldn't help but laugh, but it was sharp and anxious. "I don't care who your mother is, Annabeth."

"…You said _to_ me. Not _with_ me."

It felt like my lungs shriveled up to the size of prunes and I couldn't think past the fluttering of my stomach and the pounding of my heart in my throat.

When she noticed my reaction, Annabeth shifted.

"But it's just because you're afraid that you're disrespecting me?" she asked. "Not for any other reason? You're not afraid of our parents killing us in our sleep? You're not afraid of getting stuck with me the rest of your life? I'm not too hideous to look at?"

"Annabeth, I _honestly_ couldn't care less about what our parents think of our relationship. And I _want_ to be stuck with you the rest of our lives, hideous or not hideous, and you're most certainly _not_. It's just…" My voice trailed off.

I recognized that look on her face, and I knew it would only get me into trouble. When I imagined where the conversation could lead and remembered my dream, a sick feeling settled in my stomach.

"Never mind," I said quietly and turned to grab some clothes from my pack. "Just forget it." Without another word, I stomped off into the bathroom to sulk.

As I dressed slowly, my brain refused to drop the subject. What was most upsetting, though, was how I was inclined to act about it. Since it was clear that Annabeth wasn't bothered by it much and Aphrodite was so convinced it would work, deep in my gut I had the urge to say, "Screw it all," and just go wherever it took me. I was upset at that, but also upset that I was upset. I wanted to trust them but it was myself that I didn't trust. Aphrodite kept telling me not to be afraid but—

Was I afraid? Was that al? Was that what was stopping me?

Struggling with a battle waging in my own head, I brushed my hair back with a frustrated hand and shuffled out to go to the kitchen.

Annabeth was already in there, dressed and ready for the day. She sat at the table reading a book while Mom cooked breakfast behind her. When I walked in, they both glanced up.

Mom tutted sympathetically. "Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Would some pancakes help?"

I flopped onto the chair in front of Annabeth and shrugged halfheartedly. From across the table, Annabeth rolled her eyes at me.

"Lighten up, will you? You're bringing _me_ down," she said, and thanked my mom as a stack of pancakes was set in the middle of the table.

"Enjoy, you two. I promised Paul I'd call today, so I'll be outside if you need anything." Mom patted my shoulder and walked out.

For a minute, everything was quiet while we loaded our plates with breakfast and syrup. The entire time, I felt Annabeth's eyes on me, but I did not acknowledge it at all. She didn't push it, either, letting me mope over my blueberry pancakes. Halfway through, however, she scooted her plate to my side and got up to sit next to me.

Annabeth's hair was braided into two plaits on either side of her head, and every time she turned her head to glace over at me, one of the plaits would tickle my arm. Have her no near like that…

"Percy," Annabeth asked quietly, setting her fork down and looking over at me for the millionth time. "Why are you so bothered by that, just out of curiosity? You look like you just saw someone shoot a puppy."

I took a long time before answering.

"You really want to know why I'm bothered?" I stood and grabbed my plate. Her eyes followed me warily as I tossed it into the sink. "The shame. You're my best friend, Annabeth, and I _still_ want to. If that isn't a disturbing realization, I don't know what is."

Without looking back, I shoved my hands into my pockets and left the kitchen, left the house.

Why did I say that? Why did I tell her? Way to ruin a vacation, Percy.

I didn't bother looking to see if Annabeth was following. Maybe it would be better if she wasn't. I needed some time to gather my thoughts. Across the sand I walked until I go out to the dock.

It was a nice day out: not windy or cloudy or cold. When I sat on the end of the dock an stuck my feet in the ocean, it was a decent temperature for a swim, so that's what I did. Stripped off my clothes until I was just in my boxers and sank under the surface.

Though my mind was still racing after a few minutes, I dragged myself onto the dock and laid there for a while, looking up at the sky.

Clouds wandered across the blue lazily.

Seagulls called to one another.

Cars from distant cities honked their horns.

Waves rolled onto the beach, hissed against the dock beneath me.

The sun was bright, the air was warm, it was a perfect day, but I was _miserable_. No matter how perfect the weather was, it could not raise my gloom. At least there was someone to blame it on… Aphrodite needed to keep her nose out of other people's business. It didn't matter that she was a major goddess; she had seriously pissed me off. If she hadn't burst into my dreams I would have been able to ignore _those_ kinds of feelings I had for Annabeth. Now they were staring me in the face and making me act stupid and say things that were better left unsaid. What was that Mom said before we left?

"_I know what it's like to be in love," _she'd said. _"One second you think you've got everything in control and the next…"_

I should listen to my mom more often.

Behind closed eyelids, I could sense something blocking the sun because everything suddenly went black. Nearly shaking with nerves, I peeled one of my eyes open, and then another.

Of course it was Annabeth.

She was standing behind me, hands folded behind her back, feet together and bending over me with a concerned expression on. There was a few minutes pause before she finally spoke.

"…You're wet."

There it seemed like an innocent observation, with me it was more like an accusation since I was the son of the sea god. Water wasn't supposed to stay on me like that.

I let out a breath I wasn't aware I'd been holding and focused on the water. It slid off my body and through the cracks of the dock.

Annabeth unsurely tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear and sat next to me, legs folded underneath her and hands in her lap.

I was unable to look at her for more than a second without wanting to punch myself.

"Percy, I—"

"Don't." I held up a finger and shut my eyes tightly. "Just…don't. Give me a minute."

Annabeth scowled slightly, and then stretched out next to me to wait.

For a long time nothing was said and neither of us moved. I was afraid that if I said something it would be construed wrong, but the silence really wasn't minded.

After a few minutes, Annabeth reached over and just barely brushed the back of her hand against mine. "…You didn't think I was going to follow you, did you?"

My shoulders lifted and fell in an indifferent shrug, though it was hard ignoring her for too long.

"You know, Percy, I don't think you should be w—"

"Do we seriously have to talk about it?"

"Yes, we do," Annabeth said in an stubborn tone and sat up. "Because if it isn't addressed now we can kiss the last few days of our vacation goodbye because you're too busy thinking you're different from any other teenager on the planet."

She said all that very quickly, and at the end of the sentence her face was flushed with upset.

Still not sure about it all, I turned my head away from her to look out across the shallow part of the beach where a dozen seagulls fought over a dead fish.

When I didn't say anything, Annabeth let out a sigh.

"Please don't act like this for the rest of our vacation, Percy," she pleaded. "IT's just Aphrodite playing tricks. She made you feel that way; don't let it bother you."

I turned my head to look over at her and ponder her theory. I saw Annabeth's sweetly braided hair and her button-up blouse and scuffed jeans and the way she bit her lip hopefully. Despite the likelihood of her idea being correct, at that moment I could say with 100% certainty that Aphrodite had not planted the idea into my head.

Annabeth understood my face and gave me an exasperated, amused smile. "Guess not, huh? What am I going to do with you?"

"Stop being so amazing, maybe," I suggested, but then snapped mymouth shut the second the words came out. A nervous laugh bubbled from my throat. "Sorry."

Though it didn't happen often, she blushed.

"…And what did you mean by me thinking—"

"—that you're different from every other teenager on the planet?"

"Uh…yeah."

Annabeth tucked her legs underneath her again and though her causal expression did not waver, her cheeks grew a deeper shade of red. "Use your head, Seaweed Brain. Do you really think you're the only one with hormones here? Has it stopped any other hormonal teenager from having a _life_?"

Silence.

I didn't move from where I was, sprawled out on my back, wearing only a pair of damp shorts, squinting at Annabeth thoughtfully.

"…So you're not insulted that I…want to…?"

"I'd be insulted if you didn't."

"…Even though we're best friends? You don't think it's weird?"

"Perce," Annabeth leaned forwards on her hands and gave me a very serious look. "You're best friends with Grover, too. The only thing I'd find weird at this point if you wanted to have a go with _him_ instead of me."

My mouth popped open in horror, but it was hard not giving a nervous laugh at that.

"Exactly." She bent down and gave me the tinniest of kisses on the corner of my mouth. "Now stop moping around and help me finish the dishes."

It was over just like that.

We stood up and walked off the dock, fingers laced. I was pretty much dumbfounded into silence, how things would change so drastically in less than ten minutes. Being the queen of the smarty-pants wasn't the only gift Athena had given Annabeth, obviously.

We passed Mom on the way back up to the house. She was babbling with Paul on her cell phone while pacing on the sand, and she only paused for a second to say a quick hello to us before going back to explaining how beautiful the weather was.

There were only a few dishes to wash inside, and I knew that Annabeth had only suggested we do them to get me up and moving. While she was drying off a plate, she made the mistake of mentioning Aphrodite and she got a spray of soapy dishwater all down the front of her shirt.

"By the gods, Percy, it was just a question!" Annabeth exclaimed, trying to wring the bottom of her blouse out. "You're such a _pain_."

It was hard not grinning at her. Since I got that certain feeling off my chest, for some crazy reason, it was easier being myself around her.

"Well, I have _just_ a question for you, then." I stacked the last plate into the cupboard. "What was _your_ argument when Aphrodite showed you the…vision thingy last night?"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow and a sly smile touched the corner of her lips. "Who said I argued at all?"

It took me a second to understand what she meant. I frowned into the dishwater, but she gave me no time to think of a witty comeback.

She reached up on her toes to kiss me right between my furrowed brows. "I'm going to go change. IT's too beautiful of a day to waste inside when we can go swimming."

After she left I just stood there just to watch the water in the sink drain. Something about her attitude about all this itched inside of me. She doesn't feel how I feel about it, which means she doesn't mind me thinking the way I have been. She didn't argue when Aphrodite talked to her about the…"sexual" part of our relationship, which meant…

Snap out of it, Percy. For the love of Zeus, stop over-thinking things.

Keep your head on straight. Swimming. Swim trunks. Right.

I shuffled out of the kitchen to go to the spare bedroom to put on some swim trunks.

A few minutes later I walked out with a beach towel draped over my shoulders and an attempt at a more casual attitude. Annabeth, as always, was ready before I was, standing in the living room, busy fixing her two braids into just one out of her face. She had on a translucent white cover-up, buttoned halfway over a two-piece bathing suit.

Maybe it was my nearly opened mind, but I couldn't help but stare at her, the smoothness of her skin, which was slightly tanned from a summer in the sun. There was an impression where her hipbones curved upwards and her ribs curved downwards and her naval marked the center.

Annabeth caught me staring and I pretended nothing happened.

Although she was unconvinced, Annabeth let it pass over her head and snapped the hair tie onto the end of her braid. "Ready?"

I blinked. "Of course."

"Then race you there."

"Annabeth—?"

She took off, darting out the front door with agility.

I wasn't out of shape. Summers at Camp Half-Blood built muscle like you wouldn't believe, so there was no excuse of me being out of shape when I couldn't catch up to Annabeth. She was simply faster than me. Within seconds, her feet hit the ocean, sending sprays of sparkling water shoot up around her.

I followed close behind, and on a burst of insane courage—especially after the day we'd had already—I let myself run straight into Annabeth and wrap both my arms around her.

For a second it felt like the whole world just stopped spinning, everything stopped moving. The clouds, the sun, the wind stood still, holding its breath. Now, I'd felt Kronos freeze time, but this was nothing like _that_.

Screw Aphrodite. In fact, the Hades with everything. Why ruin a perfectly good chance for a kiss?

Annabeth didn't seem to object. She steadied herself (after nearly getting knocked backwards by yours truly) and got over the initial shock of the kiss fairly quickly. Her arms wrapped around my neck.

Maybe she was right. Maybe there really _wasn't_ anything to worry about concerning…that aspect of our relationship. Does it matter that I (occasionally) thought of her that way? As long as I didn't do anything about those feelings…

My trail of thoughts broke off as Annabeth pulled away and laughed. "Look what you're doing, Percy."

I opened my eyes and realized that a circular wall of water had risen halfway around us, dry sand beneath our feet. The second I saw it and was aware of the lifting feeling in my chest from the kiss, the water splashed back down onto our knees and we both started laughing.

"I'm glad you let go of that so quickly," Annabeth said, shaking her head and playing with my hair with her fingertips.

"And I'm glad you don't own any skimpy yellow polka-dot bikinis."

She opened her mouth to say something, but snapped it shut abruptly and turned a shade of pink. That just made me laugh and pull her to me again with a buoyancy that felt foreign. Gentler that time, it felt less of the rapturous sense that lifted all my organs into my throat and killed several million brain cells. This kiss was the kind that melted my insides, slow and wonderful and made me want to sigh.

Just as I was about to close my eyes, I saw Annabeth do a double-take at something behind me and broke away, cursing quietly in ancient Greek. Her cheeks were red, but where her gaze was leading off to the beach, she looked upset and intruded on.

The happy feeling in my stomach was gone. I kept hold of Annabeth's hands protectively as I turned to follow where she was looking. Thoughts went out to my lethal ballpoint pen in my jeans pocket on the sand some fifty feet away, but there were no monsters. Something worse.

"…Mother…" Annabeth groaned, and then cursed a second time.

There on the beach, standing in a smartly ironed, shoulder-padded grey dress suit, blond hair put up in a bun, silver eyes peering at us contemplatively, was Athena: the goddess of wisdom. Annabeth's mother who didn't quite…approve of me.

She inspected us splashing around in the water with her usual inquisitive, if not slightly cold, gaze.

It made me uncomfortable, so I began to let go of Annabeth's hands.

She held on tight, not looking away from her mom. "There's no reason for us _not_ to hold hands. And if she came to try and take you away from me, I swear to the gods, I'll—Hey wait!"

Athena turned around and began walking off back down the beach.

Infuriated, Annabeth let go of my hands and stumbled out of the surf after her mom. With no choice but to follow, I did exactly that and sloshed after her.

"Lady Athena—Mom—Wait." She paused right behind her mother, but hesitated because she realized she wasn't wearing anything suited to confront a goddess; just a cherry red bikini and messy, wet hair tossed back into a braid.

Questioningly—but smoothly, as if expecting it—the goddess of wisdom turned and looked at her daughter.

For a second Annabeth stood there uncertainly, her gaze flicking from me to her mom, and then cleared her throat.

"I don't believe I have business here to do after all," said Athena almost absentmindedly, inspecting us as though we were selections at a grocery store she was considering buying.

"…Why—?"

"After learning of the visit you had from that foolish Aphrodite, I was worried I'd have to come and clean up the mess she made, if you know what I mean." Her eyes slid over to me and—perhaps I just imagined it, but her expression softened a little. "Perseus Jackson, you are too much like your father."

For a moment my heart skipped in fear. That _couldn't_ be a good thing, especially coming from her.

Athena narrowed her eyes thoughtfully at my reaction and waiting a minute before continuing. "…Unfortunately, I have to admire the restraint you're showing with my daughter, More than ever after the…interesting visits you've had over the last few days."

That actually surprised me. My anxious frown disappeared and I raised my eyebrows. Something that didn't make the goddess want to flay me alive? Maybe I was dreaming…

After crossing her arms, Athena moved her eyes from me to Annabeth, and then back to me. "…I apologize for interrupting. There's nothing for me to be worrying about after all."

"So you know what Aphrodite was…was talking to us about?" Annabeth asked, turning a little pink in her mother's presence and hastily wrapping a beach towel around her torso.

"Little slips by me unnoticed, my child." The goddess smiled a very faint smile. "Especially when it concerns my daughter's love life. Oh, don't look like that. I'm not about to try and turn you against young Mr. Jackson. If you're anything like me—and I know you are—it's a hopeless cause trying to change your mind when it's already made."

Not really knowing what to say, Annabeth just ducked her head and said a quiet, "Thank you."

"Do not thank. I regret thinking you couldn't handle yourself. And as for you, Percy," Athena confronted me and I couldn't help but freeze with nervous panic, "I admit I had my doubts at first. I didn't want you near any child of mine. You're too much trouble, too destructive. Reckless. Untrustworthy."

"Mother!" It was Annabeth who looked more insulted than I felt, her eyes wide and mouth opened in affront. "Percy is n—"

"Quiet, child. I will talk with you in a minute." The goddess turned to face me again and straightened her back. "As I was saying, you're remarkably wild for a half-blood. It's obvious to everyone your intentions with my daughter, and I didn't want her only constant in life be so…inconsistent. Believe it or not, I care a great deal about her, and I can see so many foul possibilities this could turn out as."

An uneasy lump began growing in the base of my throat. "Lady Athena, she's…she's incredibly special to me. I would never hurt her or…or let anything else hurt her."

She gave me a tight smile. "Unfortunately, I believe you. That's why I'm going to stand by and watch things play out instead of making an attempt to destroy you again."

Next to me, Annabeth snorted and crossed her arms, glowering at the ground.

"Now, will you excuse me for a moment while I have a word with my daughter?" Athena gave Annabeth a stern look.

Mind full of wonder, I left them so they could have a moment to talk.

So, what, now I had Athena's approval? No, not approval. Tolerance. That would have to work for the time being.

I stood there, hands shoved into the pockets of my swim trunks, shuffling sand around with my feet as Athena and Annabeth had an inaudible conversation to my left. I saw Athena share a few words and Annabeth start to say something—indignantly, by the looks of it—with clenched fists, but her mother cut her off and she crossed her arms.

The family resemblance was really quite astounding between them. Not only the blond hair and grey eyes, but the shape of their faces. Even the way they held themselves when obviously upset.

Annabeth still had the towel wrapped under her arms, but as she talked animatedly with her hands, the towel had trouble staying up. I couldn't help but watch her as she spoke. The way her braid bumped between her bare shoulder blades, her arms crossing and uncrossing, bouncing her toe on the ground and shifting weight from foot to foot impatiently.

Something was said and both of them turned to look at me at the same time. Athena shook her head, said something else, and the conversation was obviously over. Annabeth loosened her shoulders and turned to shuffle back to me. I averted my eyes just in time for the goddess to return to her divine form and vanish in a blast of pure energy.

For a minute we stood side-by-side, staring at the space where Athena was a second before.

I glanced over at Annabeth and caught her eye.

She just rolled her eyes and said, "Mothers."

We both grinned and I couldn't help but put my arm around her. "She didn't yell at you too much?"

"Not too much. It was just the usual 'demigods-are-idiots-so-watch-what-you-do-because-whether-I'm-going-to-kill-Percy-or-not-he's-still-trouble-and-he-might-end-up-seducing-you-anyways-so-just-be-careful-sleeping-in-the-same-bed-as-him' kind of thing." Annabeth looked at me and laughed. "It's just a load of bull. I'm not worried about you seducing me anymore."

Her expression was so matter-of-fact, I had to peer at her with amused suspicion. "'Anymore'?"

Annabeth shrugged and carelessly tossed the beach towel onto the sand, sending my heart rate skyrocketing. "She came about two years late."

By the time I understood what she meant, Annabeth was already walking back to the water.

I just stood there watching her in her red swimsuit, feet stuck in the waves, chin tucked down watching them lap around her ankles. I watched strands of her blond hair free themselves from the braid and wave around in the quiet breeze that had sprung up. There was something unique about her, something magic I just really couldn't place. Maybe it was just that she was the biggest part of my new life now—the biggest and most important to me. She was there in the beginning and she still is.

Thank the gods Athena hadn't destroyed me. I still had a whole life worth living ahead of me.

**oOo**

_Gods, that was cheesy near the end. So sorry it took so long finishing this chapter, but hey! It was worth it, right? Right?_

_Please review and let me know what you think! _


	8. Chapter 8

_It was pretty smart of me to re-read the series only AFTER I'd gotten, like, every friggin fact in this story wrong. Hm. Well, whatever. You can just pretend I described Athena with dark hair last chapter. :D_

_I am deeply afraid I'm losing my touch… I can pretty much guarantee they're going to be at least a little OOC. My apologies, but as soon as I get back onto my feet things will be better. _

**oOo**

For the first time in a long while, I had no dreams. No crazy prophetic demigod dreams, not even normal ones. Nothing. Everything was quiet and peaceful to the very second I woke up in the morning.

I awoke up to silence, except for Annabeth's hushed breathing as she slept, and she _was_ asleep. For once I was up before her.

Well, it was our last full day together there. Friday we'd have to pack up and leave for the several-hour drive to her and then back to mine. Though there wasn't exactly anything particularly remarkable to do on our last day. I should at least make an attempt to make it special.

As gently as I could, I rolled out of bed and stood up. Thank goodness, Annabeth's was still asleep. Her blond hair was spread like a fan across the pillows, a hand under her cheek, her body curled around the stuffed panda I'd won her at the boardwalk festival. Contrary to popular belief, not all women took up the entire bed and hogged the blankets when they slept. Annabeth rarely ever moved at all.

Thoughts full of pleasant things, I drifted quietly from the bedroom into the kitchen. Maybe I could make eggs and bacon for us. That couldn't be too hard, right?

I tossed a handful of bacon into one pan and cracked a few eggs over another. Yeah, I had this down. Shift the bacon occasionally, scramble the eggs into oblivion. Wasn't that hard.

As I was reaching for some salt on the counter, I for a funny prickling feeling on the back of my neck, so I turned to look behind me.

Of course it was Annabeth. She was leaning against the way next to the door and watching me through waking-up eyes.

"…I didn't know you could cook."

I laughed and put a few pieces of hot bacon on a plate. "Yeah, well, neither did I. You've seen me do weirder things, though."

Annabeth visibly suppressed a snicker and detached herself from the wall to stand next to me. "Any particular reason you're up before me making bacon and eggs in Mickey Mouse boxers?"

I glanced down at my shorts and chose to ignore that part. "I don't see why I _shouldn't_. Tomorrow we have to go back to civilization." I put the rest of the bacon on the plate. "No more spending hours on the beach without worrying about anyone else."

"I admit, I'll miss that a lot…"

There was silence after that. I finished up breakfast and laid it out for us on the table. Still silent, we sat around a corner of the table next to each other. Neither of us touched the food, full of dismay.

"…It's going to be hard being so far away…especially after such an awesome summer," Annabeth said finally, glancing up at me through her eyelashes with a sort of sad expression. "We'll still see each other, right?"

"Of course," I said automatically. "Weekends."

"You'd spend two hours driving up to where I live just to spend the day with me?" For a moment she looked incredibly touched, but then her expression darkened. "Oh gods, I just remembered… I'm taking collage classes on the weekends. Every other weekend. You know—"

"We'll make it work," I promised, and to show I meant it (and to turn her upsetting little frown upside-down) I flicked the side of her head and grinned. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

After that, the subject was obviously dropped.

"Thank you for making breakfast," Annabeth said, filling her plate up. "You really didn't have to do this."

"Just wanted to make the best of our last day, that's all. Though, I don't know if the weather will let us go swimming again… Worth a shot, though."

Outside the kitchen window, clouds were slowly making their way across the dim morning sky. It wasn't _too_ menacing-looking, but not the warm, nice conditions we had yesterday. The weather that week had been awful bipolar…

The rest of breakfast was mostly quiet, with the occasional laughter and kicking of shins under the table. When we were finished, we washed the dishes together and Annabeth announced that she was going to go change into a swimsuit.

Not thirty seconds after she closed the bathroom door and I was just about to change into my own swim trunks, a muffled shriek came from the bathroom. I dropped everything, sprinted down the hall and threw open the bathroom door, Riptide drawn, ready to slay an army of monsters.

What I saw there was not close to that at all.

Annabeth was flattened against the opposite wall, white with fright, a shaking finger pointing towards the sink. "S-S-Sp-Spi—!"

My shoulders slumped as I lowered my sword, frantically racing heart draining of adrenaline. My eyes followed to where she was pointing, and in the sink I saw a fuzzy little brown spider trying to climb up the slippery porcelain walls, but it kept sliding back down to the bottom.

"For the love of Zeus, Annabeth, you nearly gave me a heart attack," I said, capping Riptide and bending near the sink.

Annabeth obviously didn't hear me, or didn't care. She was still plastered to the wall, trembling with fear, and when I picked up the spider to show her its harmlessness, she screamed again.

"Okay, okay…" To get rid of it, I opened the window and shook the spider out.

Even after it was gone, Annabeth remained frozen. Her breaths came out in quick, terrified pants, and her eyes darted around the room as if more spiders were going to come out of the walls and eat her.

"Annabeth, get off the toilet. There are no more spiders."

She took a deep breath, locked her eyes on me, and decided that I was telling the truth.

"Come on." I offered my hand up to her and helped her off the closed toilet seat where she'd been cowering. Through the hand of hers that I was holding, I could feel her heartbeat racing a million miles an hour.

"…Thank you, Percy," Annabeth said at last, getting a little pink in the cheeks. "Spiders just really…freak me out."

It was hard not smiling. She was one of the bravest, strongest, smartest demigods I knew, yet all it took to break her was a little spider. It was obviously not her favorite attribute, judging by her humiliated expression.

I just rolled my eyes with amusement at her and left to let her continue changing.

Outside, it was uncomfortable. The air wasn't necessarily cold, but there was a breeze that gave me goosebumps.

"IT's not _that_ cold," Annabeth said, but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than me.

Clouds were more abundant in the sky, turning from a sort of flat slate to a darker grey. Part of me was saying that I was crazy, but it was worth a try.

"Race you to the dock," I offered, as tradition.

Annabeth grinned and tossed her jacket on the sand. "As always."

We took off, sprinting across the chilly sand towards the dock. I got there a second after Annabeth and catapulted myself into the ocean.

Being the son of Poseidon, water didn't bother me. Pressure, light, temperature. It just didn't affect me like everyone else. Even though that was true, I could still feel the iciness of the Atlantic seeping through my clothing.

I surfaced the water and gasped, not because of the lack of oxygen but because the cold surprised me. Annabeth was not so fortunate. She came up coughing and gasping and had to grab onto the dock while the shock passed.

"Oh, gods, it's cold," she panted, and then laughed through a shiver. "That's not fair; it was so warm yesterday."

I swam up and held onto the dock next to her. "Maybe we should have stayed inside and done crossword puzzles," I suggested jokingly.

"No, no. Just have to get used to it." Annabeth shook water out of her eyes and grinned at me before swimming away, leaving me rolling my eyes after her.

We swam around for about an hour. The last bit of the blue sky vanished behind a cloud around ten and the rain started just fifteen minute after that.

"Okay, time out." I called to Annabeth, pulling myself up on the dock. "I don't want you to get hypothermia."

She crawled up onto the wood next to me and snorted. "Of course _you_ wouldn't be in risk of that, oh no."

I was about to laugh when a particularly freezing gust of wind spurted from the north and interrupted our laughter with violent shivers. Under the water it may have been tolerable, but not out in the open with sheets of rain pummeling us with no mercy.

I grabbed Annabeth's hand and we sort of shuffled back in the direction of the house, backs hunched against the small storm that had erupted out of the blue. Annabeth shivered next to me, fingers numb in mine. It would seriously suck for her to get deathly sick at my hand.

On our way up the beach, I picked up her jacket from the sand, but it was drenched.

We ran the rest of the way, and burst inside, laughing and shivering and wringing water out of our hair. Without waiting, I dragged Annabeth into the guest bedroom where I gave her a fluffy towel to dry off with.

"Thanks, Percy," she said, teeth clattering together.

The wind was picking up outside, sending curtains of rain washing against the bedroom window. It hammered viciously on the cabin, but thankfully it remained upright and did not give way under the merciless rainstorm.

As always, I found myself distractedly staring at Annabeth as she rubbed herself down with a towel right there in the middle of my room. Her hair was disheveled and darker from the water, framing a frighteningly pale face. Her lips looked…purple.

Annabeth looked up, caught me staring, and let out a noise that sounded like half-laughter, half-shivering. "I guess it was pretty stupid of me to bring only one jacket here, huh?" she said, wrapping the used towel around her trembling self.

Not thinking twice, I went over to my open suitcase and grabbed a thick grey hoodie and a pair of my pajama bottoms. Surely she had dry pants of her own, but nevertheless, I handed the clothes to her.

The look on Annabeth's face was curious, and then moved. She accepted the garments with a smile—the kind that made me forget my own name—but before putting them on, she reached up and gave me a kiss.

It dawned on me that I should perhaps leave to change, but the thought came a millisecond too late. She tugged on the hoodie over her damp swimsuit and sighed with comfort.

It was endearingly huge on her. The sweatshirt was a little big on me to begin with, but on her the sleeves hung past her fingers, and the bottom went halfway down her thighs.

The pajama bottoms that I'd given her? They weren't pajama bottoms. The second I realized I'd given Annabeth a pair of my plaid boxers, it was too late.

"Oh, sorry," I said quickly, reaching to grab them, but Annabeth clutched them away from me.

"No, no. I want to wear these," she said, and pulled them on.

It was a little embarrassing seeing my boxers on her (hey, they were clean!).

Annabeth simply laughed when she saw my red face. "Thank you, Percy." She held the sleeve up to her face and laughed again. "It smells like you."

Okay, that was a little weird.

I ignored that last comment and waved it off. "You wear them better. You can have them."

"I wasn't planning on giving them back. Hey, aren't you cold?"

For some reason, I had this vision of her letting _me_ wear _her_ clothes, but I doubted I'd look as good in her purple pajamas as she looked in my hoodie.

I nodded honestly, trying not to smile. "Give me a minute and I'll be out, okay?"

"Take your time."

In the bathroom, I put on some warmer clothing, and when I was done, went back out.

Annabeth was in the kitchen, seated at the table with her hands wrapped around a cup of what I guessed was hot chocolate. My mom sat opposite her, and they were laughing.

When I came in, Mom looked up. "There's hot chocolate on the counter for you, dear. What _were_ you thinking going swimming in weather like this? I saw you two splashing around in the ocean in the middle of a _storm_. You could've caught hypothermia!"

Annabeth grinned.

"We're fine, Mom," I reassured my mother, taking my hot chocolate and sitting next to Annabeth. "I don't make a habit of giving my friends hypothermia."

"Friends who wear your underwear?"

"_Mom!"_

"Sorry, honey, just an observation." Mom stood and set her mug on the counter. "Let me know when you two are hungry for lunch, okay? I'm going to be in the bath."

When she was gone, I hid my face in my fingers. "…Why does she always have to _do that_?"

Annabeth, who hadn't said anything since I got into the kitchen, smirked into her hot coco. "She has a point, Perce. And why did you call me your friend instead of girlfriend, just out of curiosity?"

"It…it feels weird, since you _are_ wearing my boxers, and you _do_ sleep in my bed often. Calling you my girlfriend just then would have made my mom think I'm…up to something."

"Heaven forbid Percy Jackson is up to something." Annabeth laughed and drained the last bit of coco. "You really are something else, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. Hey," she leaned forwards on her elbows towards me, letting a sweet little smile onto her lips. "We should build a fort."

"A fort?" I was genuinely confused.

"Yes, a fort. You know, a few walls, a ceiling, a space where you crawl in, with chairs and blankets."

"…A fort."

"_Yes, _Kelp Face. What part about a fort don't you understand?"

"…The part where I haven't made a fort since I was nine years old."

"Don't worry; I'll help you."

She was serious.

"Well, you're the architect. Building a fort it is," I said finally, and to that, Annabeth grinned widely again.

"Great. Now, we're going to need every blanket we can get."

It took a few minutes, but pretty soon we had a pile of blankets and quilts heaped on the couch, and Annabeth was dragging chairs from the kitchen into the tiny living room.

Once, my mom came in to check on us in the middle of building, and she watched us for a minute with an amused expression on. Annabeth and I didn't pay any attention to her and kept draping blankets and rearranging chairs.

By noon it was finished; a work of art stood before our eyes. We'd brought to use all five kitchen chairs, the couch, the armchair, two brooms, the doorknob of the front door, and six huge blankets. There was an entrance at the front of the couch just big enough for me o crawl in. When it was finished, Annabeth and I stood in front of it, admiring our workmanship.

"See?" Annabeth said proudly. "Building a fort isn't that hard."

"I never said it was hard…"

To be honest, I was pretty impressed. I was alright at stuff like sword fighting and pegasus riding and climbing rock walls pouring lava. That was all part of my amazing demigod life. Doing all that stuff, I'd never in a million years think that then I'd be having a normal vacation with Annabeth, doing just about the most normal thing possible: building a fort.

Part of my body was on high-alert, like things couldn't stay that normal without something terrible happening, but hey. I was going to enjoy it as much as I could.

From nowhere, my mom appeared behind us with a disposable camera. "Turn around, you two! Let me get a picture."

It was past the point of being exasperated at her for being such a _mother_. I did what she asked and turned with a roll of my eyes. Annabeth was less reluctant and pulled me down to give me a painful noogie right as the camera clicked.

After the picture, the three of us took a second to look at the fort. It wasn't beautiful, but there was a strange sense of pride that came with it completion. I knew that Annabeth was feeling that, too, when I looked over at her.

She smiled widely, eyes sparkling, and it was hard imagining her as she was during the first few years I knew her: stiff, cocky (okay, she was still a little cocky), and she sneered and scowled a lot more. Seeing her drowning in my clothes, grinning at me through messy blond hair, standing in front of this fort—

"Don't' give me that look," Annabeth mumbled, bumping her shoulder into mine and nodding in my mom's direction.

What? What look? I opened my mouth to ask but Mom interrupted my train of thought.

"Before you two get lost in your own little world, do you want lunch?" she asked, already heading off to the kitchen.

"Sure. Thanks, Mom."

"Thanks Ms. J— Sally."

We both followed my mom into the kitchen.

Apparently, the fort-making wasn't the only reminder of my little-kid life. For lunch, Mom made us a big platter of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches cut into triangles, and fixed a big pitcher of lemonade. We sat cross-legged on the counters (much to my mom's disapproval, but hey, there weren't any chairs!) and messed around, laughing the whole time.

When we finished eating, she hopped off the counter and dragged me with her. We snuck out of the kitchen and into our new fort, which took up most of the living room. Let's hope no one needed to use the front door any time soon…

Annabeth entered the fort first and I crawled in after.

It was pitch-black, except for a strip of light near the end and a faint glowing coming from the kitchen. I had to feel my way blindly across the floor to the front of the couch where Annabeth was sitting.

I accidentally put my hand on something soft and a little squishy, but it moved.

"That's my leg, idiot," Annabeth's voice said off to my left.

"Oh. Sorry."

I sat and there was silence for a moment.

I cleared my throat. "Well, this is a little—"

"Do _not_ say 'anticlimactic.'"

"I wasn't. I don't even know what that word means."

"…You never fail to impress me, Percy. It's a word you use to describe disappointment where you'd thought something would be exciting.

"Oh."

For a while we just joked around in the fort, shoving each other and laughing and talking about camp and the vacation and how we weren't looking forward to mortal school. After an especially long pause from the conversation, there was a more serious change to the atmosphere.

Annabeth shifted next to me and I could just barely see the silhouette of her face from the glow. "…I've really needed this break from life, Percy. Thank you—again—for inviting me. Really." She found my hand and laced our fingers together.

You know… There in the dark, it felt easier to be brave, if you know what I mean. Things that I'd been wanting to talk about and say to her came to the tip of my tongue, and for some reason I wasn't afraid to say to them.

"Annabeth, I don't…I don't know what to do after camp. We still have two summers left, but…after that?"

"I know…" She sounded weary. "I…I want to go to college after finishing up mortal school and camp. There's an excellent engineering and architecture school in Georgia."

"Georgia?"

I could literally feel my heart dripping into a pool of despair in my gut. How could she—? I wouldn't ever see her again… Maybe if I moved, too, just to be with her. That was a huge commitment, though, and if I proposed that idea, I might as well propose another…

If it was possible, my organs sank even lower.

That was the first time that certain word had came to mind when thinking about Annabeth.

_Marriage_.

Goosebumps appeared on my arms, but it was not because I was cold.

Annabeth squeezed my hand. "I know that's a long ways away, but…Perce?"

I forced myself to start breathing again. "I'm okay. _That's_ okay. You don't…you don't need my permission. I'll figure something out."

In the dark, I felt one of Annabeth's hands come up and cup my face, bringing it a little towards hers.

"Come with me," she whispered.

That was more or less what I was planning on, but I didn't tell her that.

I cleared my throat nervously and tried to ignore how close her body was to mine. "Do you actually mean it?"

"Of course I mean it! We'll rent an apartment near campus together or something."

Rent an apartment together?

Now it was _really_ was hard to breathe.

"Easy, Seaweed Brain. We still have a good couple years to go. There's not rush." Annabeth moved to take her hand away from my cheek, but I reached up and took hold of it.

I wished we could have stayed like that forever. Both our hands in one another's in the shadows of the fort, it felt like there was no one else in the world, no one listening or judging or _anything_. We were sitting angled towards each other, leaning against the foot of the couch. I couldn't resist taking my hands away from hers and putting my arms around her instead.

Annabeth let me fold her into my lap, her head on my shoulder.

"…I don't understand you sometimes, Percy," she whispered, settling against me, "but I'd rather not understand you and love you than be able to read you like a book and be uninterested."

What could I say back to that? Words just kept getting caught in my throat.

"Annabeth…" I started, but was rudely cut off by a blast of music. Not good music, either; the old kind my mom liked.

"Sorry if it's too loud!" Mom called over the guitar solo from the kitchen. "Just let me know if you want me to turn it down!"

Even over the music, my sigh was audible.

Annabeth didn't pay any attention to the music and just tilted her head back to look up at me. "What were you going to say?"

"Nothing," I said automatically. That was probably better. It seemed to be having trouble filtering what went through my head lately. Not everything I began to say should be said; I just got lucky every time something cut off my train of thought.

"Percy."

"Nothing!"

"Please tell me?"

Something different than what I was going to say popped into my head, but it seemed less harmful, so I shrugged.

"I was just going to say that…I love you, too?"

Said aloud, it seemed stupider than in my head. Good thing she couldn't see my blush.

To my surprise, Annabeth snorted. "Liar."

"What? I do!"

"I know that, but that wasn't what you were going to say."

"…It doesn't matter."

"I know you, Percy," She detangled herself from my arms to face me indignantly. "You only refuse to tell me anything nowadays if it's important."

"Or if it's _really_ embarrassing," I pointed out."

"You know there's nothing to be embarrassed about around me," she said, her tone hovering on the verge of exasperation. "I'll never try to force answers out of you, but sometimes it just drives me _insane_."

A snappy retort came to mind but I shoved it down and only answered with an honest, "I don't mean to drive you insane. Most of the time."

"Well, you manage."

A long silence followed. Annabeth remained huffy, not so much as _touching_ me. I honestly didn't mean to drive her insane (most of the time, like I said), it's just that I realize a second too late that perhaps what I was going to say shouldn't be said.

The song from the kitchen changed and I heard my mom humming along to some weird, instrumental Styx, and the smell of chocolate chip cookies wafted into our fort.

Maybe I should tell her after all. It drove me _insane_ when she gave me the short-term silent treatment as she liked to every now and again. Unfortunately, the moment was seriously lacking in courage, so I had to take several minutes to build it up.

"…Have…Have you ever thought about marriage, Annabeth?"

Annabeth audibly caught her breath.

Mom's music played on.

Then finally, in a tiny voice that I could barely hear, she said, "_Oh. _That's why you didn't tell me…"

"Sorry," I mumbled, drawing my knees up to my chest and feeling my face burn. "Just some food for thought."

A few awkward seconds passed and my mom's feet came into view at the fort entryway and over the music, she said, "There are some chocolate chip cookies on the counter if you two want." She left again, still humming.

Neither of us moved.

Then, suddenly, laughter broke the uncomfortable silence as Annabeth cracked up.

"That isn't what I thought you were going to say at all," she sniggered. "And to be honest, I have, it's just not my place to bring it up, you know?"

I was stunned with relief and disbelief.

"That _was_ what you were going to ask me, wasn't it?"

I glanced up, even though the only thing I could see was a faint silhouette. "Yeah, it…it was. Told you I shouldn't have said it…"

"Don't act like it's a terrible thing. I'm glad you told me." Annabeth scooted a little closer until our shoulders touched. "I'm _really_ glad you did. Have you thought about it a lot? Marriage?"

"Not too much," I admitted truthfully. "It's been at the back of my mind, but sometimes I can't help but think about it. Like just then when you said you wanted to…to go to Georgia. I couldn't stand it being so far away from you."

"You actually believed I'd leave you like that? You must be crazier than I thought."

The space between us buzzed with unrest. Though it was pitch black and I couldn't see anything from where I was sitting, I reached out my hand to touch Annabeth's cheek.

I missed and ended up running the tips of my fingers through her hair, which was okay, too.

"Percy…"

I opened my mouth to say something but had no chance, because Annabeth put her arms around me and pressed her lips against mine.

It was the kind that made my brain melt through my ears and turned my innards to jelly.

It was too dark to see, too loud to hear, and under the blackness of the fort it felt like we weren't really _there_. No one was missing us, no one needed us except for each other. It was fine to stay like that as long as we wanted, and I _wanted_.

Annabeth's hands gripped the material of my shirt. I could feel her eyelashes flutter against mine as she closed her eyes and leaned in.

Stay conscious, Percy, don't lose yourself— But I wanted to lose myself…

Come on, man. Your mom is in the kitchen. At any second she could catch you.

_Who cares?_ said the little voice at the back of my head and the rest of me agreed. The music was loud enough to hide anything.

My fingers wrapped around the tops of her arms and pulled her against me. With a little, bubbly laugh, Annabeth went along with it and I felt her nails dig into the small of my back—

—right where my Achilles spot was.

It felt like bolts of electricity shot through my veins. From the small of my back, pain shot straight to my fingertips and I jerked away from Annabeth. My arms flew out to catch myself as my body involuntarily wrenched backwards.

My elbow hit the leg of a chair and it toppled over, followed by a second chair. Within seconds, our fort had collapsed all around us, trapping me and Annabeth in a swathe of blankets.

The aftermath of the shock left my heart beating painfully in my throat and wrists. It was only until it slowed down a little bit, I realized that the music in the kitchen had been turned down (almost silent) and Annabeth had landed on top of me, laughing and apologizing.

"Oh my!" said the voice of my mom from the general direction of the kitchen doorway. "Are you two okay?"

She came over and began peeling away several layers of blankets. Annabeth scrambled off of me just in time for us to burst out into the illumination of the living room. Her cheeks were bright pink and her hair quite disheveled. She held one of her hands over her mouth as she snorted.

When I sat up, disoriented from the jolt, she put her hand on my forehead.

"Are you okay, Perce?" Annabeth asked. "I really am sorry."

"Percy?" my mom inquired worriedly, wringing her hands a little and kneeling down next to us. "What happened, honey? You look sick. Do you need to lie down? Your eyes are all dilated. What happened, Annabeth?"

Thankfully, Annabeth was a good storyteller.

She shook her head and tutted, still smiling. "He was just telling me something funny that happened at camp, and I-I pushed him." Her eyes sparkled knowingly at me. "A little too hard, because his arm slipped out from under him and his head hit a chair. It fell over and made our fort cave in."

Excellent story, I wanted to tell her, but it came out in a laugh.

"I'm fine," I told both of them.

Mom didn't look quite convinced. "You sure, honey? I can get you some aspirin if you want."

"I'm _fine_," I told her again, and stood up, despite the wave of vertigo that buckled my knees.

Annabeth stood with me, keeping hold of my arm.

"Would a cookie help?"

I rolled my eyes, but let my mom and Annabeth lead me into the kitchen. Much to my reluctance, they stuffed me full of chocolate-chip cookies and gave me some lemonade, and soon I felt as good as new, despite my entire back tingling as if it had fallen asleep.

"I'm thinking you need to stop rough-housing," my mom said while dragging chairs back into the kitchen. "You've had enough adventure for today. Nearly giving yourself hypothermia, and then a concussion."

"Accidents," I pointed out.

"Details." Mom waved that off and changed the subject. "At any rate, are either of you hungry? It's a little early for dinner…"

Neither of us were.

"If you're going to your room," my mom said before we left, "I want that mess in the living room cleaned up first."

I nodded my head grudgingly, so Annabeth and I shuffled back into the living room to tidy up.

As we were folding a blanket, Annabeth shook her head at me, smiling. "I really am sorry, Percy. I didn't mean to, ah…push you."

I snorted, which turned quickly to laughter. "Don't apologize. I deserved it."

She started laughing, too, because we both knew that she hadn't pushed me. "Damn right, you deserved it."

Annabeth rarely cursed, so that just made her comment even more hilarious. Both of our faces were red, but it was too funny to resist. Her eyes shone mischievously.

We put blankets back in the tiny linen closet, and the covers that belonged on the bed in the guest bedroom were neatly made. All of the chairs and brooms were put back, and the furniture was returned to their original positions. When all of that was done, we took another cookie each and decided to spend the rest of the day in the guest bedroom.

I lingered in the kitchen only a second longer to grab the radio (with the idea to sneak it off into the guest bedroom and play something half-tolerable), but Mom caught me before I could follow Annabeth to the room.

"Percy, hon," she started.

I recognized that tone she only used when she was about to tell me something important, something that I may not necessarily want to hear.

"Oh, don't look so afraid of me. This is important." Mom began fidgeting with her wedding ring with her thumb, the way she did when something was really weighing on her mind. "I can…I can tell that you and Annabeth are more serious than you were b—"

"Really, Mom?" I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her. "This again?"

"I'm not going to yell at you, Percy." She shook her head. "I just want you to be careful, that's all. Know what you're getting into. Remember what I told you when you came home from camp?"

"Yes," I said impatiently.

"Just remember that, dear. And also remember I'm in the room next to you."

"Mom, we're not going to do anything like that. Seriously."

"I sure hope not." My mom patted my cheek and smiled lovingly at me. "Now go. I'm done lecturing you. Let me know when you guys get hungry, okay?"

I was happy to escape the kitchen and close the bedroom door behind me.

Annabeth was waiting cross-legged on the bed, resting her chin on her hand. "Your mom?" she guessed.

"Yup."

"Telling you to be a good boy?"

"Pretty much."

I shook my head and walked over to the dresser to set the radio down. Styx was still playing, so I took the CD out and put on some better music. After turning back around, I found Annabeth looking at me with a slight pucker to her brows. Wordlessly, she held out her arms for me in the adorable way she'd only ever done that week. How much she'd kill me if I told anyone at camp about that side of her?

When I went over to her and sat on the edge of the bed, she wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my hair. It was an unexpected display of affection, but I let myself enjoy it as long as it lasted.

"I _am_ sorry for hurting you, Percy," Annabeth said quietly, and she used a finger to touch the spot where we knew my Achilles spot was. It buzzed with electricity. "For a second I thought I'd…"

"Killed me?" It was hard not letting out a little chuckle when I drew away to flick her head affectionately. What a way to die, I thought. Sure, it would definitely suck, but there wasn't any reason for her to worry about me. My thoughts drew to last year, the war, when on some miracle I'd managed to escape death when a certain someone dove between a poisoned dagger and the small of my back.

As if reading my mind, Annabeth reached up to touch the spot on her shoulder where the dagger had hit her. Her eyes did that thing that they did often: glaze over and lock onto a point in the far distance. It seemed as though she was thinking a million different things at once, frozen in the present but sucked deep into her subconscience.

I stretched onto my back on the bed to wait her trance out.

A few minutes passed.

"Percy," Annabeth said after a few minutes, snapping so suddenly back into reality it made me jump. She twisted her body around and leaned forwards to me, propping herself on hand that was flat on my abdomen. Her expression was still a little vague, but wondering as though she'd just gotten an amazing idea.

My eyes went from her hand on my stomach to her face. "Yes?"

"I want you to come over tomorrow."

I blinked and wondered if she meant it. We'd just spent pretty much an entire summer together…

Annabeth smirked at my look and rolled her silver eyes up to the ceiling. "You can stay for dinner or something."

"Um…sure?"

"But I know my family was planning a trip to some water park and won't be back until six. So we'll have the place to ourselves until then."

It was difficult deciphering her face and her words together. If she meant what I thought she meant—

"Do you think your mom would mind you 'staying for dinner'?" The quotation marks around the last bit of her sentence were so obvious; she made it perfectly clear her ideas.

My mouth bobbed open and closed idiotically. Sure, the idea had sort of been in my mind but I hadn't, like, actually considered it might…that she'd want…and _tomorrow_. Maybe she didn't mean it like that. Maybe—

"Do you _always_ have to get that look on your face every time I ask you a question?" Sighing, Annabeth laid down as well, crossing her arms under her chin on my torso. Blond curls tumbled down either side of me. "It'd be hilarious if I wasn't serious."

Still, I remained silent, absentmindedly fiddling with a strand of her hair.

"I'm not forcing you into anything, Perce. I really _would_ like if you had dinner with us, though. We could play Monopoly in Snuggies if you'd like."

I lifted my head to peer down my chest at her. "…Monopoly in Snuggies? Honestly, Annabeth?"

"Well, you don't seem comfortable with anything else."

"I think dinner's fine, Annabeth. Let's just see what tomorrow's like and I'll think about it."

There was another long moment of quiet, but it was contemplative instead of awkward. Annabeth had her eyes closed and small fingers curled on my stomach.

Gods, she was beautiful.

Sometimes I thought whether or not it was bad for us doing what we had been. I mean, it wasn't like there was anything really _wrong_ with sleeping in the same bed with someone of the opposite sex who was unrelated with you. That in itself wasn't terrible, but the private moments we shared—like right then, with her curled up on my stomach. And the times I slept in just a pair of boxers and we woke wrapped around each other under the covers.

Seventeen was young. We weren't children, but the bridge to where those things were acceptable hadn't been crossed yet. Some part way deep down inside of me still felt an obligation to my childhood that had lasted only a few short years. All those principles almost every kid grows up learning, whether from parents or movies or books. Things like don't be intimate unless married.

I just didn't know.

Aphrodite made me question that last one.

I loved Annabeth to the ends of Olympus and back, but does the fact that we were 17 and unmarried change anything at all? Could the goddess who believed in love so much have been wrong? She _was_ the goddess of love, and not the goddess of morals. Would it be wrong, even if we were following the guidance of a goddess? Even though I plan on being with Annabeth my entire life?

No, I decided. It would be wrong if we'd just met each other and didn't love each other. Maybe I wasn't the smartest person in the world, but I knew that I really only wanted to spend the rest of my life with one person. And if I planned on staying with her forever, would it matter?

Reluctantly, I pulled myself away from thoughts that had turned quite nice, and opened my eyes to look back down at Annabeth. She looked almost like she was asleep, with her lips barely parted and eyes closed. I could feel her breathing slowly against me. It was impossible resisting the urge to stretch my hand over and trace the curve of her cheekbone with a fingertip.

Annabeth's eyes fluttered open at my touch. "…Do you think we should eat dinner before getting too comfortable?"

Though I really wasn't hungry and really didn't want to get up from where we were, I agreed unwillingly and let her crawl off of me.

In the kitchen, we scrounged around and ate some leftovers at the table. Annabeth remained unusually silent, but not in the bad way. Every now and again our eyes would meet and she'd grin at me, and I'd smile back. Things were exactly how I wanted them.

When dinner was done, we tucked our chairs in and turned out the kitchen light. Though it wasn't really _that_ late out, the rainstorm hid what light outside would have provided, so it was fairly dark. Every now and then, the house would shudder from wind and rain pummeling the walls.

Annabeth and I left the spooky kitchen to duck back into the guest bedroom. The radio had changed to a slower song I didn't recognize, and since the light felt too unnatural and piercing, we turned that off as well. Soon, it was just me and Annabeth standing there in the near-dark, music playing softly in the background.

The moment I was building up to was going to be amazing in my head, but when I reached for her hand, Annabeth didn't notice and wandered away to the window. Okay, fine, then.

Instead, I went to lay down on the bed.

For a second, Annabeth stood there staring out the window. Then she glanced back at me as though she just noticed I'd left her side. A sweet expression crossed her face and she came to lay down, too.

Outside, the storm raged on, and I'd lost track of time. What was it, six? Seven? Being our last day together, the hours sped by unusually fast. It was probably too early to go to sleep, but the evening happened quicker than I had wanted. One moment I was fixing breakfast for myself and Annabeth, and now I was stretched out on the bed with her, watching in the dimness of the storm as her chest rose and fell slowly.

She had her arms folded behind her head and her face was tilted up towards the ceiling, but eyes closed. The gray hoodie I'd lent her had ridden up so I could see the curve of her abdomen between two hipbones. Her skin there was a creamier color, not quite as tanned as the rest of her body but free of scars and calluses as well, making it look softer than baby's skin. (I'd argue that I didn't stare at her than often, but hey. I did.)

I let my eyes slowly slide back up to her face to find that she was looking at me. Normally she'd make some sarcastic remark or try to be a smart-aleck or something. That time she was just looking at me through her eyelashes with the corners of her mouth turned upwards, which made my cheeks turn a little pink, but oh well.

The radio played on, as did the rainstorm. Even though it wasn't anywhere near bedtime, Annabeth scooted closer and rested her head on my chest, shutting her eyes again. Just like that, we spent our last night curled up together until we both drifted off.


	9. Chapter 9

_Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I was almost done with this chapter when I read a certain book that came out on the 2__nd__ and read it in a day and pretty much laid on my bed wanting to die for a long time afterwards. I'm not going to give anything away, but let's just say that it felt really scandalous writing Percabeth fluff after what happened. _

_At any rate, they're probably going to be a little OC, only because I need some good old fashion fluff to lift my spirits._

_This chapter is dedicated to my best friend EVER, Kassidy, for buying me Mark of Athena and a cookie!_

**oOo**

In the morning, my mom fixed us a huge breakfast in hopes we'd eat the last of the food that needs to be refrigerated. By the end, Annabeth and I were feeling so fat, we weren't sure we could carry through with the cleaning-the-cabin-before-departure routine. Mom wouldn't have it and sent us away to clean the guest bedroom anyways.

Unfortunately, things ended in a huge bathroom water fight and Mom banishing us to load our belongings, the garbage and the rest of the food into the car.

I was disgruntled.

"We didn't make _that_ huge of mess," I insisted while wrestling a garbage bag into the trunk.

Annabeth snorted cynically, because we both knew there was no way _not_ to make a mess when having a water fight with the son of the sea god.

She changed the subject. "Have you asked your mom if you can have dinner at my place tonight?"

After closing the trunk, I leaned against the side of the car. "I was thinking about waiting until lunch to do that, actually."

"I don't know if I can even eat lunch after that breakfast."

Though I agreed, my thoughts abruptly wandered to dinner at Annabeth's house. What she had instigated yesterday was—well, I was made uncomfortable by the thought of it, not because I was against the idea, but because it felt deceiving to my mom. I wasn't a mama's-boy, but that just seemed like the #1 way to lost trust between us. After Mom letting Annabeth stay a week with us in a remote cabin, _and_ letting her sleep in my room often, that would be like a slap in the face.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Annabeth said, pushing my shoulder gently. "I know what you're thinking, Percy, but you really need to calm down."

"I know," I told her, but didn't get to finish my thought because just then, Mom came out of the house holding a stack of sandwiches.

"After lunch we can lock up and head out," she said, and handed us our lunch.

Annabeth and I sat on the beach to eat.

The morning air was cool and salty, and the aftermath of last night's rainstorm evident everywhere. Leaves from nearby trees were scattered along the beach, and the flowers from the bed outside the cabin were flattened. Thankfully, the storm had done its round and ended early that morning, leaving the sky blue and water frigid.

I couldn't help but watch Annabeth as we sat there with our lunches.

The past week had been the best of my life. I'd felt her arms, her lips. I'd held her while we slept and I'd danced under the lights of a carnival with her and I'd heard her tell me she loved me. I'd splashed around in the water with her and taken her underneath it with me, I'd wrapped her in a towel and kissed her forehead afterward. I'd seen her in the morning with messy hair and a bright morning grin.

It seemed too good to be true, but it _was_ true.

Annabeth glanced over and me and rolled her eyes, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear. "What's that look for?"

On a whim, I reached over to press my lips against her cheek. "Don't forget this, okay? As a favor to me."

Bewildered, she touched the spot where I'd kissed her and smiled the smallest of smiles. "…I could never, Percy."

Before the moment got too beautiful, she punched my shoulder.

Just like the good old times.

"Are you two done?" Mom called out from near the car, breaking the silence. "We should be on our way."

Reluctantly, I stood and helped Annabeth up after me. Our hands remained clasped when walking to the car, but neither of us made a move to get in. Annabeth's grey eyes seemed lost out to the sea.

My mom noticed our stalling. "Come on; we need to be out by eleven."

"Hey, Sally?" Out of the blue, Annabeth unfroze and turned her curious gaze towards my mother. "Is it okay if Percy stays for dinner tonight? We can bring him home afterwards."

Mom, who had stopped the process of climbing into the driver's seat, frowned. "…It's quite a long drive, Annabeth, are you sure your dad will be okay with that?"

"Oh, he has to stop by Manhattan anyways. It wouldn't be any trouble."

"Well…" After a second of pondering, she sighed and gave us a smile. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything."

Nervousness fluttered back into my chest, but I forced it down and opened the car door for Annabeth.

She squeezed my hand once before getting in.

The first part of the car ride seemed to drag on, which was honestly okay with me. Annabeth tucked her knees up to her chest and rested her head on my shoulder as we rode.

Though she obviously felt the same way about the past week as I did, there were only slight negative thoughts when she took something small and rectangular from her messenger bag.

Annabeth turned a disposable camera over in her hands. "I reserve the right to confiscate certain pictures as I see fit."

"No you don't!" I insisted, snatching the camera away and making a face at her. "I get to keep the one of your on the carousel!"

"NO YOU DO NOT."

Annabeth tried grabbing the camera back but I felt it out of her reach.

"Give…me…that…" she grabbed at my arm, "…CAMERA."

"Get off me! That's my neck your elbow is burrowing itself in."

"Give me the camera then!"

"No!"

"Give it to—!"

"Do I have to turn this car around, children?" Mom's stern, yet joking voice cut through our grappling.

We froze, mid-tackle.

Annabeth let go of my sleeve and scooted back onto her own sea, huffing and glaring. "If you show that picture to _anyone_, I swear…"

"Oh, don't worry. I won't show it to anyone." I smile stretched across my face. "Except maybe everyone at Camp."

"I guess this would be a bad time to point out that I took a picture of you when you were sleeping, all sprawled out on the couch half-naked, cuddling my stuffed panda with drool all over your face."

"That's not as bad as Annabeth Chase, great daughter of Athena, head counselor, in a dress, holding a balloon, riding on a pink pony on a carousel."

Annabeth glared at me with such fury and warning it was terrifying. In a slow, clearly enunciated voice, she spoke. "I have so much dirt on you, Perseus Jackson, that you could bathe a Clazmonian Sow four times over and still have enough left over to dust the Underworld."

In my head, I thought about how true that was. All the times I did and said stuff that I wouldn't ever dare to admit to anyone else.

After I put the camera away silently, Annabeth nestled against me again and, trying to contain her smugness, changed the subject. "Good thing the storm finally died down last night. It was hard to sleep with so much noise."

"You didn't sleep well?" I asked, and as if on cue, she yawned widely.

"Not really. I had an unquiet mind. The rainstorm didn't help much, though." Annabeth picked at a loose thread on her shorts absentmindedly.

"…You can sleep on the way, if you want."

After squinting her eyes suspiciously at me, she pulled her knees back up to her chest and settled against me with her chin on my shoulder.

The lemony scent of her hair tickled my nose, but in a good way. The fragrance would always remind me of her…

The rest of the ride was quiet. Annabeth fell asleep quickly, completely dead to the world, through dropping the cameras off for development, angry traffic and speed bumps. When we finally drove up in front of Annabeth's house, I had to shake her shoulder.

"Come on, Sleeping Beauty. Time to wake up."

She opened her eyes tiredly and made an attempt at untangling herself from me and her seatbelt. An adorable, wide yawn opened her mouth into an O. "Mm….We're here?"

"Yeah. You're place."

"Don't ever call me 'Sleeping Beauty' again, okay?"

We both grinned at each other and I opened the door for her after getting out myself.

From up in the driver's seat, Mom said to Annabeth, "Are your parents home?"

Annabeth's eyes flicked over to me and it was obvious she was trying to contain a sly laugh. "If they aren't now, they should be fairly soon."

That was a lie, but my mom didn't seem to think anything of it.

After stepping out, Mom turned to me and Annabeth. She involuntarily wrapped my girlfriend in a hug. "Thank you so much for joining us this week, Annabeth."

Annabeth hugged back and let out a little laugh. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Percy would have killed me."

"Got that right," I said, but she shoved me. "Gods, just joking. You'd whop my butt."

"Don't you forget it." She grabbed her bag from the trunk of the car and turned to my mom again. "But really, thank you _so_ much for inviting me with you guys. I understand how that cabin is sort of a family thing, and I'm honored to have joined you there, too."

There goes Annabeth being as eloquent and polite as ever…

It looked as if Mom was ready to tear up. She shook her head and put her hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "You're such a strong and wonderful young woman, Annabeth. You took Percy in and helped him grow in ways he wouldn't have otherwise." A little chuckle escaped her lips. "You're just about all he ever talks about when you're not around, and when you are, it's obvious you're all he ever _thinks_ about."

My cheeks glowed red. "Seriously, Mom—"

"Sorry, dear. It's true. Anyways," Mom straightened up and beamed. "You're already family in my eyes. If you ever want to come over and stay a few nights or join us at Montauk again, just let me know."

Annabeth smile looked slightly proud, but she rolled her eyes. "Thank you. I might have to take you up on that offer, just to keep an eye on this idiot—" she bumped her shoulder into mine, "—and made sure he doesn't blow himself up accidentally."

"Again."

"Again," she agreed, still grinning.

There was a pause, in which my mom came over and pretended to dust my shoulder off jokingly.

"You'll be back before midnight, right?" she asked.

"I should be, yes," I said, glancing over at Annabeth for the affirmative.

"And you're sure I don't need to come and get you afterwards?"

"Mom, really. I'm fine. I'll see you tonight, okay?" I gave her a hug, just for good measure, and watched as she got back into the car and rolled the window down.

"Have fun!" Mom called out. "Thanks again, Annabeth, for coming!"

She drove off, leaving me and Annabeth standing at her front door, watching the bumper disappear down the road.

A minute of silence passed before Annabeth let out an excited laugh. One hand grabbed her bag and the other grabbed onto my arm and she hauled me through the door.

"You can wait here if you want," she told me in the living room, letting go of my arm. "I need to dump all these clothes off in the washer and empty the rest out. Do you want something to eat? Or drink?"

I couldn't help but laugh a little and follow her as she jogged down the hallway. "Thank you Annabeth, but I'm fine. Do you need help with anything?"

"That's alright. I've got it."

I followed her for a few minutes as she ran around, shoving clothes into the washer and dumping toiletries off in her bathroom and throwing Percy the Panda onto her bed and hanging her backpack up. After all the hassle was over, we went to the kitchen. It was small and cozy, and on the fridge hung a note written on a yellow sheet of legal paper. It read:

_Annabeth:_

_If you get back before we're home help yourself to leftover chicken in the fridge. We expect to be home around five. If you need anything, you know the number to call us on. Hope you had a fun time!_

"…You sure you don't want any food?" Annabeth asked again.

"Seriously, Annabeth, I'm fine." With my hands on her shoulders, I drew her closer until our faces were mere inches apart. "Stop for a second. Breathe. You're going a million miles an hour."

"I'm not—"

"Yes, you are. Just calm down, okay? There's no rush." As a joke, I reached down and poked her in the ribs.

To my surprise, Annabeth flinched away and let out a sound that sounded like a strangled laugh.

Things went through my head very fast. I hadn't really paid attention to her ticklish-ness before because she would have killed me. If I tried tickling her now, I might possibly get seriously injured, but I figured she'd loosened up a lot around me that week. I chanced it.

Annabeth saw the flash of mischief in my eyes a second before I could do anything. She tried scrambling away from me.

"DON'T YOU DARE, PERCY."

I managed to catch her around the waist.

Never before had I heard the sound Annabeth made just then, a joyous shriek of laughter I'd never expected to hear coming from her mouth.

It was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever heard, and only encouraged me more.

"Let go of me!" Annabeth squealed, trying to wriggle from my arms.

She managed to squirm free and dash from the kitchen, laughing. No matter how _completely_ out of character that was for her, there was no way I was going to let the moment pass.

I ran after her.

We sprinted out of the kitchen and down the hallways and into the living room, laughing like lunatics. Annabeth lunged dove over the back of the couch and I pursued her, snatching my hands at her and saying stupid things like, "I'm going to get you!"

Every time I manage to _almost_ grab hold of her, she'd do that cute little laugh-scream and slap my hands away to bide herself enough time to make another escape.

She's run, I'd run after her, halfway up the stairs, over the rail, around the living room again, down the hallway and back. The only mistake she made was trying to escape me by dodging into her room, where I had her cornered. The split-second of realization and terror on Annabeth's part was all the time I needed to wrap my arms around her waist from behind and hoist her into the air.

Annabeth kicked and laughed and tried twisting away, but the farthest she got was to tumble us onto her bed, which didn't seem to work out to her advantage. It seemed almost cruelly ironic.

I had Annabeth pinned down to the blankets with my body, elbows propped up on either side of her, legs kind of tangled together, and was smirking down triumphantly at her.

We were panting and grinning and on a crazy sort of high that I couldn't come close to describing.

"Well," Annabeth said from underneath me, every of her rising and falling breaths moving my own chest. "You caught me. Now what are you going to do?"

I knew what she was insinuating, but I didn't react immediately. Elation from everything filled my head and seemed to blind me momentarily, and when I looked back down at Annabeth, I didn't see _just_ Annabeth.

I saw my whole world, I saw beauty and strength and adoration so raw and powerful it soaked my bones, lifted my heart, and seeped into my lungs and eyes and head.

I didn't just "love" Annabeth, no.

I loved her as a best friend, a partner, I loved to hold her in my arms and I loved her smile and her laugh and her scowl and her hair in the morning. I loved the feel of her skin and the sound of her incredulous snorting and the scent of her lemon shampoo.

I loved Annabeth Chase with every fiber in my being, with a burning fire and a blanket of warmth. I loved her with so much loyalty and affection, I loved her and wanted her so badly it was a physical _ache_, but I couldn't. I couldn't give her that today. The fear of losing all my other feelings for her was veracious and painful.

I couldn't chance it, I just couldn't.

It was terribly hard, but I made myself roll off of Annabeth and get up. I couldn't bring myself to look back at her expression, so my feet carried me over to the window.

Stupid Percy, ruining another wonderful moment.

Of course, Annabeth got up and walked over to stand next to me. For a few seconds, we stood there silently before words forced their way out of my mouth.

"Are you ever…scared that we'll get so caught up in this…_love_ thing that we'll stop being best friends?" I asked, glancing over at her with furrowed brows.

To my surprise, Annabeth smiled sarcastically and bumped her shoulder into mine. "Not at all. One of the reasons I love you is _because_ you're my best friend. I don't think we have anything to worry about, Perce."

That was a nice way of putting it.

"Hey, Annabeth?"

"Hm?"

This was going to sound really ridiculous and lame, but here goes nothing.

"Do you think that…Do you think that for maybe just an hour or two we can forget everything else?"

One of her eyebrows rose.

"Like…" I licked my dry lips. "…Like our parents and our demigod responsibilities and our age and reputations at camp."

That sounded lame, as did just about everything else I ever said, but Annabeth didn't make fun of me. On the contrary, she looked contemplative, with her eyes narrowed slightly and her mouth pursed into a small smile and her gaze boring almost unsettlingly into mine.

Finally, she made up her mind and snorted. "If you haven't noticed, I've been doing that this entire week," she said with amusement, straightening up and tilting her head at me. "You haven't been?"

I felt a little deflated and embarrassed. "Uh… Well, yeah I guess I have been, but…"

Annabeth laughed and grabbed the front of my shirt with a hand. "Come on, Seaweed Brain." She practically dragged me over to her bed and we stretched out backwards, side-by-side on it. Our legs were propped all the way up on the wall, our hips on the pillows and hands linked.

Neither of us really said anything at first. I could feel courage building up inside of me as I watched Annabeth. She was staring blankly up at the ceiling, tongue caught between her teeth, completely out of it.

Gods almighty, she was amazing.

Carefully, I leaned over and pressed my lips against the soft skin of her neck, right below her jaw.

A little puff of air like a laugh escaped Annabeth's nose and turned her head to look over at me, that little smile on her mouth and that little twinkle in her silver eyes. "You're an idiot."

"Why am I an idiot _this_ time?" I asked, grinning.

Annabeth kissed me. Against my lips she laughed and said, "You're too afraid to sleep with me, but you have to be so damn sexy _all the time_."

Whoa. That was _not_ what I was expecting.

Blood rushed into my cheeks and I blinked at Annabeth, startled.

She just lifted her head and laughed again, crinkling up her nose. "Gods, Perce. You're _such_ an _idiot_." When I didn't have anything to say to that, Annabeth sat up and switched positions, propping herself up halfway up on the pillows. Her knees were right next to my eyes. Sure, they were great knees, but I still adjusted my own position where I was sitting cross-legged on the other side of the bed so I could actually see her face.

Annabeth was looking at me with some strange expression, but it wasn't a bad one. Her lips were turned up in a sweet, almost _sneaky_ smile, and her eyes were narrowed in thought, but an eyebrow was raised.

Since I wasn't sure if she had something to say, I stayed silent, matching her gaze with me own, hopefully steady one.

After a few minutes, Annabeth grinned and shook her head. "Come over here, would you?"

Curiously, I scooted closer until she could have put her feet on my lap if she wanted.

"No, closer."

After studying her face briefly, I scooted closer still until I was sitting next to her, but she shook her head even so.

"Little closer," she said, and propped herself up better.

Bundling up some more daring, I took a wild guess and stretched myself halfway on top of her, elbows propped up on either side of her ribs, chest-to-chest. Our faces were mere inches apart, and Annabeth had this _grin_ on.

"How's this for close, _Miss Chase_?"

Her grin widened. "Just about right, but…"

I couldn't stand it. Annabeth's grin and blond curls and sparkling eyes won me over, as they always did. I ended up kissing her again, but that time neither of us pulled away. My fingers tangled in her hair and I held onto her tightly, though the fear of crushing her underneath my weight held me back a _little_.

Every now and again Annabeth would laugh against my mouth. Her thumbs were hooked into my belt loops, pulling me against her. Where all the restraint on my part came from was beyond me, because with every passing second we kissed I wanted her more and more. It was a physical _pain_.

It was when Annabeth pulled away from me long enough to curl her fingers around the bottom edge of my shirt and tug it up over my head, my heart _really_ went into overdrive, slamming itself against my ribcage. My head was pretty much screaming but every other part of me told it to shut up.

When Annabeth saw me freaking out, she laughed and put her lips near my ear. "Just go with it, Perce."

…Okay. Whatever you say.

She kissed me again, but I was still nervous. No doubt she could feel me tense against her, but I couldn't help it. She can't expect me to act normal when she started taking my freaking clothes off. Any other boy in the world would have been eager, but to be honest, the thought really scared the pants off me (no pun intended).

I'd never before wanted something so badly, but it _killed me_. I wanted it but I didn't, but I really, _really_ did. No harm in it. Nothing wrong.

Annabeth.

Her hands slid against my chest, running across the lines and curves of the muscles Camp Half-Blood gave me. It sent shivers all the way up through my spine, but it acted like drugs, turning my brain to standby mode. The button of Annabeth's denim shorts was cold on my lower stomach, and I couldn't help but take my hand briefly from her hair to press my thumb against it. By then my brain had shut off the rest of the way, and I was hardly aware of what I was doing.

A moment after—or hours after, I wasn't sure—we both heard a noise that sounded like the world ending:

A car pulling into the driveway.

Annabeth heard it a spilt-second before I did, which explained why she suddenly yanked away, eyes wide and mouth open. There was a small dark-pink line on her bottom lip, which caught my eye, but her expression forced me out of my trance.

"Uh-oh…" she breathed, and then flicked her stare up to mine.

Then we were in a panic.

I rolled off of her and nearly crashed to the floor in a frantic hunt for my shirt.

Annabeth was stumbling off the bed, pulling her shirt down over her stomach and buttoning her jeans (did I do that?). Her hair was beyond messy, tangled all around her face, and she was bright red. Blankets that used to be on the bed were mostly _not_, and all but one of the pillows were on the floor.

Gods, how were we going to fix this? The proof was too much.

"Quick, Percy," Annabeth rushed over to her desk, grabbed a handful of papers and pencils, and rushed over to me. She shoved it all in my arms. "Make the bed and then pretend to be doing something with these." Then she promptly sprinted into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Curse Annabeth and her brilliant plans.

I wished she'd given me an easier task. I was an expert at making messes and being stupid and killing things with swords, but making a _bed_? She'd chosen one of the things I was worst at. However, I did the best I could in the shortest amount of time I could, and then swiftly plopped onto the floor and pretended to become immersed in the papers she'd handed to me.

From in the bathroom I heard a lot of hasty shuffling and swearing in ancient Greek.

The sound of the front door open could be heard from inside the room, and sounds of rowdy twin boys suddenly burst into the house. Bobby and Matthew, Annabeth's stepbrothers could be heard yelling back and forth, running with loud feet in the door, followed by the words of warning from their mother.

"No running in the house!" Mrs. Stepmother said sternly, "And take your shoes off at the door!"

There was a sound of rustling plastic bags and a sigh.

"Fredrick, did you get the eggs?" Mrs. Stepmother asked Annabeth's dad, and a short reply by him said that he did.

Annabeth got out of the bathroom at that time, looking frazzled and rushed, but much more presentable than before. Her hair was combed down and her face wasn't as red and her clothes were straightened and properly done up.

She laid down on her stomach next to me, in less of a hurry, and grabbed some of the papers with a pencil to pretend to be doing something as well. I couldn't help but stare at her as she was "concentrating." I could still taste the sweetness of her lips and feel the curves of her body against mine. The feeling was still fresh inside of me. I really didn't _want_ her family back.

Annabeth looked up from the papers, saw me staring at her, and for some reason she just completely _cracked up_. Of course, it made me start laughing as well, which was odd because I didn't know why we were laughing, but it was difficult to stop. Annabeth covered her face with her hands as she laughed, shoulders shaking.

From in the living room, we could hear Professor Chase: "Hey, I'm going to check on Annabeth, okay? Make sure the boys don't get those dirty."

There were footsteps leading all the way up to Annabeth's room and a knock.

"Annabeth?" Professor Chase opened the door and popped his head in.

It was difficult controlling our hysterics, but seeing as how no one really knew I was going to be there, we had to stand up and explain ourselves.

When Annabeth's dad noticed me, he gave a start and raised his eyebrows. "Percy! I wasn't expecting to see you here," he said, giving Annabeth a very pointed look.

Of course, Annabeth had it under control.

She gathered up the papers and set them back on the des. "Hi, Dad. I was hoping Percy could stay for dinner tonight, but I couldn't call ahead of time to ask. Is that alright with you?"

Professor Chase blinked. "…Well, I suppose. I can drop him back off home if Sally isn't coming this way again. Have you been here long?"

"Not really."

"Oh." He paused for a second and then shook his head as if to clear cobwebs. A smile appeared on his face and I could see where Annabeth got that little dimple on her chin. "Well, did you two have fun? How was your week? Wait—don't tell me about it until dinner. I want to have a chance to unwind."

We followed him, and as Annabeth passed to go out the door, she shot me an adorable, sneaky grin that made me want to drag her back into the room and lock the door after us. Before we got into too much of the spotlight, she stretched up and as we were walking, into my ear she whispered, "Christmas break."

Everyone was surprised when I walked into the living room. Annabeth's little brothers, Matthew and Bobby, launched themselves at me the second they spotted me and began pulling on my sleeves and jumping up and down asking me if I wanted to play cars with them and if I've ever eaten squid and if we saw sharks and if I'd kissed Annabeth and things like that.

"Go help your mother with dinner and stop pestering Percy so much, you two," said Professor Chase, shooing them away towards the kitchen, but they were excited.

"_I'll_ bet they saw sharks," said one of the twins to the other (I was never good at distinguishing either of them). "Great big ones that nearly bit their legs off."

The other twin agreed enthusiastically. "And sand spiders that were five feet long and chased them around the beach! Remember that movie, Bobby?"

Bobby made explosion noises and began chasing Matthew around, waving his arms and making monster sounds.

As they disappeared down the hallway, Annabeth looked over at me with a disturbed face on. "I'm glad we didn't run into any five-foot-long sand spiders."

Though I agreed, there was no time to say anything because at that moment, her stepmother came in from the kitchen. She had her shiny black hair pulled back into a bun and was holding a pan in one hand.

"It's good to have you back, Annabeth! Did you have a good time?" She briefly hugged Annabeth, but it was obviously uncomfortable for both of them.

"It was great," Annabeth said awkwardly, and pulled away.

Professor Chase, despite the visibly painful embrace, chuckled as Annabeth and I sat down on one of the couches. "And you, Percy? Was it worth putting up with her attitude for an entire week?"

When Annabeth scowled, I couldn't help but laugh and kiss the side of her head. "Almost."

"Almost?" Annabeth shoved my shoulder and crossed her arms, though amusement twinkled in her eyes. "It was harder putting up with _your_ insolent attitude all week, Mr. You're-Cute-Enough-to-Rape."

I cracked up, but her parents didn't find it quite that funny. They exchanged raised-eyebrow looks and it was awkward until Ms. Stepmom cleared her throat.

"I'm going to see if the water's done boiling," she said, and straightened up. "I'm glad to hear you two had a good time. You like spaghetti, don't you, Percy?"

"Yes, ma'am," I said, propping my legs up on the other side of the couch, which was, unfortunately, right across Annabeth's lap. I ignored her as she tried pushing them off.

A few seconds passed after everyone else had left the living room, and after they did, I rolled my eyes over to Annabeth. "You just _had_ to bring up the rape comment, didn't you? Trying to make all three of your parents hate me, is that it?"

She glared at me, but it was more out of annoyance than actual anger. "Athena doesn't hate you _that_ much, and technically Jia isn't really my parent. They probably thought I was just messing around."

"Hilarious," I said. "Annabeth Chase having a sense of humor. That's a good one."

She glared even harder, especially when I laughed. "You're just begging to get hit, aren't you?"

"Do I have a choice?"

She punched my arm.

I kissed her cheek.

Though it was an unfair exchange of feelings, both of us were satisfied at the end.

When dinner was ready, everyone gathered around the big kitchen table. Bobby and Matthew were still in the middle of their game, which had transformed from giant sand spiders to dinosaurs, and they'd taken their dinosaur claws to the table.

"Raptors don't _like_ garlic bread," snarled Bobby, pretending to eat his brother's arm off.

"You two need to calm down," scolded Ms. Stepmom (Annabeth said her name was Jia?). She dished out heaping piles of spaghetti onto plates, topped them with sliced garlic bread and passed them out, along with plates of salad.

"So," Professor Chase cleared his throat after we'd all got situated. He looked at Annabeth and twirled spaghetti on his fork. "Tell us about your week. No five-foot long sand spiders?"

Annabeth shivered visibly. "No, thank the gods. No, we had…we had fun." Her expression grew vague and still, and I knew what she as thinking of, but she snapped out of it fast. "Lots of swimming and beachcombing and pizza."

"And a boardwalk fair a few miles from the cabin," I remembered, taking a bite. "I actually convinced her t—"

Annabeth smacked the side of my head.

"…Convinced her to what?" asked one of the twins after a pause.

"To enter a chili-cheese-dog-eating contest," Annabeth fibbed, covering up for what I was going to say. That was alright; I'd have the picture for proof soon enough.

I leaned over to Matthew and in a fake whisper, said, "She was farting on the couch all night long."

Both boys burst out laughing, but Ms. Stepmom, Professor Chase and Annabeth were all three giving me the strangest of looks.

"That doesn't even amount to your drooling," Annabeth said finally, grabbing her glass of water. "I'm pretty sure you stained a pillowcase with all that saliva."

"Says the girl that sleeps with a stuffed panda."

"That you won after spending fifteen dollars on just about the easiest game there."

"At least _I_ didn't steal _your_ underwear and wear them around the house!"

"You didn't even comb your hair the entire time."

"I found you standing on the toilet seat screaming at a spider."

"Don't you dare bring that nasty hairy thing up, Perseus Jackson," Annabeth smacked her hand down on the table and pointed accusatively at me, "when you can't even crack an egg without managing to get it on the opposite wall."

"It was the _same_ wall, thank you very much."

"Same difference! Y—"

"Okay, you two." Professor Chase cleared his throat. "Seems like you had quite the time. Let's just leave it at that, alright?"

We grudgingly agreed and stopped arguing, but kicked one another's shins under the table.

**Ooooooooooo**

Dinner was over and it was getting dark out, and both of the boys had gone off to bed. Annabeth and I were both sprawled on one of the couches, letting the meal digest for a bit before I had to leave. Honestly, it was less of letting things digest more of reluctance to leave.

Annabeth had stretched out, resting her head on my lap and pretending to be asleep. Her blond ringlets spilled over my legs and I couldn't help but twist them around my fingers absentmindedly.

From the silence of the house, Professor Chase entered the living room, scratching his blond-and-grey-streaked hair.

"It's getting late, you two," he said to us, causing Annabeth's eyes to open slowly. "If we're to get to Manhattan before midnight we're going to want to leave now."

"Aww…" groaned Annabeth, reaching her arms out in front of her and stretching like a cat. Her back arched and a little strip of skin appeared between the hem of her shirt and the waistband of her pants.

Of course, I hated the thought of leaving, too, but there wasn't much of a choice. I stood and offered her my hand. "Come on. If I get back after midnight my mom would worry. She might not let us do anything like this again."

"She'd better." Annabeth said that more like a warning, and leaned briefly against my chest. "Who would I make fun of?"

"Don't worry." I patted her reassuringly. "There's always Iris-Messaging."

We got our shoes on and got into the back seats of Professor Chase's new Volkswagen. The sky by that time was a shade of dark, milky blue, stained with the glow from the city. The color made me even more tired than I already was—after a big meal and being so late in the night—but I didn't want to fall asleep on the drive back home. I wanted to stay awake for the precious little time I had left with Annabeth.

When in the van, she scooted, and buckled herself in right next to me. She wound our fingers together and rested her head on my shoulder.

Things were silent as the scenery passed around us.

"I kind of don't want you to leave…" Annabeth admitted after a long while, glancing up at me. A strand of blond hair tickled my ear. Her voice was unusually soft and gentle. "After a week like that, I'm going to be lonely…"

In response, I pressed my lips against her temple and squeezed her hand once. "Don't worry. We'll see each other plenty. Weekends, breaks."

"Christmas break." She looked up at me again and her eyes twinkled. "Promise."

"Of course we'll see each other. Don't be ridiculous." I kissed her forehead again, but she turned her head in a stubborn gesture.

"No, I mean, like, stay at my place during Christmas break. Like, your mom let me stay with you guys for a week during the summer. Maybe you can stay a week during winter break. Our families could have a joint Christmas celebration on the 25th or something."

"…Okay, Annabeth."

"And maybe we'll get some time to ourselves that we didn't get today."

I knew what she was hinting at, of course. I just rolled my eyes at her. "Okay, Annabeth."

The rest of the ride was quiet. None of us said anything up until Professor Chase had parked his Volkswagen in front of my place.

"Well, thank you for joining us for dinner, Percy," he said, putting his arm around the seat and turning back to look at me. "And thank Sally from us for letting Annabeth go to Montauk with you."

"I will. Thank you, Professor Chase." I shook his hand and got out.

Annabeth got out right behind me. "I'll walk you to your door," she said, and took my hand.

She did indeed walk me to the front door, but did not let go right away.

We stood in quiet for a minute, and then Annabeth wrapped her arms around me. I returned the hug tightly, winding myself around her and burying my face in her sweet blond curls.

"I'm holding you to Christmas break, okay?" I said, jokingly tugging on a strand of hair.

"Okay." Annabeth laughed and drew away, but kept her hands on my torso. "Hey, I owe you for this week. I had an amazing time."

"I think we both needed a little break." I leaned in and kissed her, just a little peck on the mouth. "Thanks for putting up with me."

"Well, thanks for inviting me." There was a moment of indecisive silence until she took a few steps back. "Say hi to Sally and Paul for me, okay?"

"…I will."

Annabeth turned around, but before she could leave I grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her into me again, catching her and kissing her again, putting what feeling I could into it. All the love and adoration I felt towards her. The moment melted my brain.

After a few seconds, I broke the kiss and put my lips up to her ear instead. "Hey, Annabeth…"

"Hm?" She was smiling.

"…I…I love you. You know that?"

Annabeth laughed. "Of course Seaweed Brain. I know that." She straightened up and flicked my chest. "I love you, too. Always. I'll see you later, okay?"

"…Sweet dreams."

I watched her blond ringlets bounce as she walked down the stairs and left me standing in front of the door.

My heart felt swollen, filling my chest all the way up to my ears and burst from my eyes in momentary blindness. I'd just had the most amazing week of my entire life, and there was only one thing I was completely sure of in my life:

I was in love with Annabeth Chase, and that was going to last for the rest of my life. I didn't know where it'll take me, but whatever road I'm going to be traveling I want to travel it with her.

Christmas Break couldn't come soon enough.

**oOo**

_I guess this is it! Thank you to EVERYONE who's read and/or reviewed, and thanks to Rick Riordan for making such an amazing series. Except more Percabeth stories from me, especially since I'm writing a little sequel to this about their Christmas Break!_

_If any of you were disappointed that nothing actually happened in Annabeth's room, don't you worry. I'll have the sequel out shortly and you won't be disappointed._

_Well, have a marvelous…week? I don't know. Have a marvelous life, and I hope to see you all very shortly!_

_SoggyBug, signing out._


End file.
